URALCHEM announces loan restructuring agreement with Sberbank

16.11.2009

Moscow, Russia – 16 November, 2009 - URALCHEM, OJSC, (“the Company” or “URALCHEM”), one of the largest producers of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers in Russia and the CIS, today announced that it has reached agreement with Sberbank for the restructuring of loans originally due for repayment during the period of 2010-2012, altogether totaling $867.5 million.

According to the loan restructuring agreement reached between Sberbank and the company, the terms of repayment will be postponed from 2010 until 2011-2013 on two credit line agreements and interest rates will be lowered from 11.5% to 9% on a US dollar-denominated loan.

This debt restructuring was undertaken as part of a wider initiative to optimize the Company’s debt financing terms. The arrangement with Sberbank is a significant step in the process of bringing the Company’s loan debts to a more comfortable level.

Anton Vishanenko, Chief Financial Officer of URALCHEM, OJSC commented: “The agreement we’ve reached with Sberbank is a testament of their confidence in the ongoing development of the mineral fertilizer sector, as well as in the robustness of URALCHEM’s investment programme, production efficiency and growth prospects. We are confident that fruitful and mutually-beneficial partnership with banks and lenders will continue well into the future”.