OREANDA-NEWS. On February 22, 2008 OJSC Oil Company Rosneft (LSE: ROSN) signed a US$3 billion Structured Crude Oil Pre-Export Credit Facility from a group of international banks, reported the press-centre of Rosneft.

The 5-year loan carries an interest rate of LIBOR+0,95% and is secured by export contracts for sale of crude oil.

The Facility is arranged and fully underwritten by a group of international banks including ABN Amro Bank N. V., Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S. A., Barclays Bank PLC, Bayerische Landesbank, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank AG, ING Bank N. V., JPMorgan, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd, JSB "Orgresbank" (part of Nordea), Societe Generale S. A., Sumitomo Mitsui Finance Dublin Ltd, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd, WestLB AG (as the Mandated Lead Arrangers).

DZ Bank AG and Calyon (as the Arrangers) have joined the transaction ahead of general syndication which is due to launch shortly. Deutsche Bank is the Facility Agent and acted as the coordinator while ING Bank (Eurasia) ZAO is the Passport Bank.

Proceeds in the amount of US$3 billion have been disbursed this week and applied towards repayment of the bridge loans raised last year to finance acquisitions completed during 2007.