26 November 2009

On 24 November 2009 OAO Tatneft issued the following press-release:

USD1.5 bln Loan Agreement Signed with a Syndicate of Banks Led by WestLB, Unicredit, RBS and  OJSC Gazprombank 

The ceremony of signing the loan agreement in the amount of USD1.5 billion between OAO Tatneft and a syndicate of international and Russian banks was been held today in the building of the Cabinet of Ministers (Government) of the Republic of Tatarstan in Kazan. The ceremony has been attended by Rustam N. Minnikhanov, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO Tatneft, Shafagat F. Takhautdinov, the General Director of OAO Tatneft, and representatives of banks - members of the syndicate of lenders. 

WestLB and Unicredit/HVB acted as Coordinating Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners; RBS and JSC Gazprombank acted as the Mandated Lead Arrangers and the Bookrunners; OJSC Nordea, OJSC Bank of Moscow, BNP Paribas, VTB Europe, Societe Generale, ING, HELABA, AK Bank NV acted as the Mandated Lead Arrangers; First Bank of Nigeria and KfW Ipex Bank acted as Lead Arrangers, Erste Group Bank AG and ZAO Intesa Sanpaolo as Arrangers, Russian Commercial Bank (Switzerland) as Lead Manager and FIMBank plc. and PPGM were Lead Arrangers.

In addition to the banks Vitol S.A., which is one of the world's leading commodities, joined the facility as original lender. Vitol also acts as the offtaker under the oil supply contract which is used as a security for the loan. 

The loan is split between two tranches: 3 and 5 years, both of which are amortising. The 3 year tranche is priced at LIBOR plus 5.85% p.a. whilst the 5 year tranche is priced at LIBOR plus 6.85% p.a.  The new loan will help OAO Tatneft to finance construction of the TANECO refinery and petrochemical plants complex in Nizhnekamsk. 

Despite the fact that the process of arranging the facility took place in very difficult economic situation, the bank lending market participants demonstrated great interest in it and syndication was closed with substantial oversubscription (OAO Tatneft decided not to increase the size of the loan). 

Zenit Bank and Citi acted as financial advisors to OAO Tatneft on this transaction. Legal advisers were Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP (for the borrower) and Allen & Overy LLP (for the lenders). Vitol was advised by Salans.

Forward-looking statements:  This announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements of OAO Tatneft. OAO Tatneft does not guarantee occurrence of any events mentioned in such statements as well as term of their occurrence.