Tit for tat

29 October 2008 By Pierre Briancon

Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska should be able to refinance foreign loans, thanks to the Russian government s recentlyopened $50bn facility. The Russian government wants to keep creditors from taking major stakes in strategic companies. Western banks are happy to oblige.

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Mikhail Fridman, the Russian billionaire and controlling owner of Alfa group, will get refinancing from Russian bank VEB for a $2bn, Deutsche Bankled loan, the Wall Street Journal writes. This would spare Fridman from having to let go of his 40% stake in Russian mobile operator Vimpelcom.

Oleg Deripaska, who controls Rusal, the world's largest aluminium company, could get the same help from the Russian government within a few days. Deripaska needs to refinance a $4.5bn loan extended last April by a group of western banks led by BNP Paribas to help him acquire a 25% stake in Norilsk Nickel, for around $13bn. The stake has lost three fourth of its market value since then.

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