En + expects to refinance debt soon
MOSCOW. May 26 (Interfax) - En+ Group is in the final stage of negotiations to refinance about $1 billion in debt.
"We're in the final stage of negotiations on the bulk of our credit portfolio. We expect to refinance it for the medium term in a fairly short time," En+ CEO Maxim Sokov told reporters.
He said the group's debt has remained about the same in recent years because it is constantly being refinanced.
"We maintain it at the level that is comfortable both for us and for our creditors," Sokov said.
When asked how the liquidity crunch affected the negotiation process, he said that this situation certainly had an impact on talks with creditors but it has now improved and there are no serious impediments to a positive conclusion of this process.
"Despite the general volatility of lending rates since December of last year, we don't expect a significant change in rates on our credit portfolio, although at the operating level there was of course an adjustment in rates and they changed on the heels of the Central Bank rate. Clearly in December, when the rate was raised to 17.5%, there was one situation, and today there's already a completely different one," Sokov said.
