OREANDA-NEWS. On 09 September 2015, Uralkali (LSE: URKA; the Company) and PJSC Sberbank (Sberbank) signed an agreement to open a non-revolving USD 1.5-billion credit line. Sberbank CIB — corporate and investment banking, acted as an arranger of the financing.

The credit line will be used as a reserve facility for the refinancing of the existing loans according to their repayment schedules and to finance existing investments of the Company. Funds under the committed credit line are available for utilisation from 09 September 2015 till 03 March 2017. The availability period of the loan assumes proportional increase of the limit in accordance with the Company’s cash flows projections and the need in credit resources during 2016-2017. The final maturity date of the facility — 07 September 2020. The advantage of the facility is that the funds will be provided on an unsecured basis and the Company will not be required to use the full amount of the credit line.

Uralkali is one of the world’s largest potash producers and exporters. The Company’s assets consist of 5 mines and 7 ore-treatment mills situated in the towns of Berezniki and Solikamsk (Perm Region, Russia). Uralkali employs ca.11,000 people (in the main production unit). Uralkali’s shares and GDRs are traded on the Moscow Exchange and London Stock Exchange, respectively.