Mechel PAO on Dec. 26 said it extended the maturity on 70.2 billion Russian rubles of credit lines with VTB Bank until 2022.

Payment on the debt was extended to the first quarter of 2020, with repayment by the first quarter of 2022. Additionally, the company renegotiated the terms of about €45 million in trade financing and extended the deal until April 2022.

Mechel CEO Oleg Korzhov said the signing of the agreements with VTB Bank mean that similar conditions on debt repayment reached with Gazprombank and Sberbank will now come into force. "So we can say that the extensive restructuring process with Russian state banks, which hold 67% of Mechel’s debt, is complete," he said.

"Considering the positive trends on commodity markets and the additional cash flow from our implemented investment projects, we will make every effort to begin repaying our debt early," Korzhov noted.

As of Dec. 23, US$1 was equivalent to 61.16 Russian rubles.