VTB files fresh suit against Mechel for over 50 bln rubles
MOSCOW. Feb 2 (Interfax) - The Russian bank VTB filed a lawsuit on February 2 against mining and steel company OJSC Mechel for more than 50.1 billion rubles, court materials show.
Representatives from Mechel have declined to comment. VTB's press service told Interfax that the bank filed the lawsuit in order to recover debt from Mechel. In addition, VTB will continue trying to recover Mechel's debt in all accessible legal ways, a representative from the bank said.
VTB, Gazprombank and Sberbank account for more than half of Mechel's debt, which totaled around $7.84 billion as of the end of September 2014. The creditors are insisting that the debt be converted into shares, but Mechel's main owner, Igor Zyuzin, is against this. VTB and Sberbank have already filed suit against Mechel to recover the overdue debt.
Shares of Mechel fell by more than 10% after VTB filed the lawsuit.
By 2:39 p.m. Moscow time, ordinary shares of Mechel were down 8.7% at 40.97 rubles, while preferred shares lost 9.7% and were at 30.86 rubles.