OREANDA-NEWS. On 20 February 2008 Southern Telecommunications Company (STC), the biggest fixed-line operator in the South Federal District, announced that based on a decision taken by STC’s BoD (Minutes #18 dated January 24, 2008) the company entered into an agreement on raising a loan by issuing and arranging credit linked notes with private liability company Richcom Public Limited.

The loan facility equals Rib 3,500 mln at 9% interest, with an interest accrual period of six months. The plan is to repay the loan in two tranches after 4.5 and 5 years. The CLN issue and arrangement fee is equal to 0.95% of the loan’s amount.

Commenting on the conclusion of the agreement, Southern Telecommunications Company’s deputy general director for economy and finance Alexander Dobryakov pointed out that attracting financial resources via CLNs will enable the operator to refinance its obligations and turn some short-term obligations into long-term commitments. The issue of credit linked notes will diversify the company’s financing sources, widen the group of investors and lower credit risks both for the company and investors.