The Russian steel and iron ore producer Metalloinvest Holding (Metalloinvest) has announced that two representatives of Russian stated-controlled bank VTB have joined its newly elected board of directors.
"We are delighted to welcome the new members of the board and feel very positive about their future contribution," chairman of the board Farhad Moshiri commented.
Accordingly, the new board of directors provided a positive endorsement of the measures taken so far by Metalloinvest's management to tackle the global economic crisis.
"The company management coped with the objective of decreasing costs and increasing the efficiency of all our assets," said Mr. Moshiri. "This was possible due to production optimization and the cutting of management expenses. For the period to the end of the first half of 2009, production costs were reduced significantly, which allowed us to remain both profitable and competitive," he added.
According to the reports, Metalloinvest has recently concluded an agreement in principle with VTB on the refinancing of its entire debts owed to another Russian state-controlled lender, Sberbank.
The debts to Sberbank are to be repaid in four monthly installments in accordance with previous agreements, with the first payment to be made in August of the current year. Meanwhile, the withdrawal of funds within the scope of credit from VTB will be realized in accordance with Sberbank's debts refinancing schedule.
The sum Metalloinvest owes Sberbank has not been disclosed, but reportedly it is in the region of Ruble 60 billion (about $1.9 billion).