Astana Finance seeks extension of restructuring deadline; signs agreement with export credit agencies

business and economy

Astana Finance seeks extension of restructuring deadline; signs agreement with export credit agencies

By SRI ⋅ November 20, 2009 ⋅

(SRI) - Astana Finance has requested an extension of a deadline to submit its final debt restructuring plan to the Kazakh Financial Supervision Agency (FSA) until March 2010, the lender’s chairman Kintal Islamov said on Thursday.

Astana Finance, a large non-bank lender, is amidst a restructuring of its $1.7-billion debt.

Last week, it secured a non-binding agreement with foreign creditors, which outlined the terms of the restructuring. Now, the company plans to sign a similar agreement with domestic creditors who are reportedly preparing a counter-proposal to the one presented by Astana Finance earlier.

Domestic creditors reportedly rejected the original plan to exchange subordinated debt of Astana Finance for a 16-percent equity stake in the company. Instead, Astana Finance proposed to extend the repayment term of subordinated debt to 25 years with a 15-year grace period.

Astana Finance also signed a memorandum of understanding with international export credit agencies on the restructuring of its trade finance debt. According to the agreement, presented last month by Astana Finance CEO Elmira Ibatullina, the credit agencies’ $221-million debt would be repaid in full if affected credit agencies agreed to a ten-year debt rollover and provided additional funding for Astana Finance’s leasing unit.