OREANDA-NEWS. February 21, 2012. RusForest AB has been granted a bridge loan in the amount of USD 10 million from Vostok Komi (Cyprus) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vostok Nafta Investment Ltd., as the company said in a press release received by Lesprom Network.

During the course of the past months RusForest has been involved in negotiations with a Russian Bank regarding a long term credit facility in the order of the equivalent of about USD 10 million.

A preliminary approval was received in December 2011 and the process of finalizing the credit terms and registering the necessary collateral is currently ongoing. The management of RusForest is positive with regards to the chances of being able to secure this credit facility during the 1Q 2012.

However, in order not to lose any momentum within the Company's harvesting and sawmilling operations, RusForest has elected to accept an offer from Vostok Nafta for a USD 10 million bridge loan. The loan matures in six months and is granted at market terms.

Vostok Nafta is the single largest shareholder of RusForest, controlling about 29.4% of the outstanding shares of RusForest.

The proceeds from the bridge loan will be used for working capital purposes while RusForest is preparing for its previously announced rights issue, subject to the approval of an extraordinary general meeting to be held on 1 March 2012.

RusForest is forestry and sawmilling company operating in Eastern Siberia and the Arkhangelsk region of Russia. The Company controls long term forest leases with an annual allowable cut of approximately 3.6 million cubic metres, and utilizes these resources to produce a wide range of sawnwood products.