26 April 2004 04:56
Yukos notified of potential event of default by syndicated lenders (Part
3)
MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax) - Yukos said it had received a notice dated 23 April 2004 from the lenders participating
in Yukos's $1-billion pre-export facility secured term loan that the lenders consider that a Potential Event of
Default has occurred, the oil major said in a press release.
The Potential Event of Default notice relates primarily to the tax claim for 99,375,538,234 rubles filed against
Yukos on April 14, 2004 and the order granted by the Moscow Arbitration Court dated April 15, 2004 prohibiting Yukos
from disposing of or encumbering its assets, the press release said.
The notice provides that Yukos and associated companies may continue their export trading activities related to the
loan without restriction, but that the lenders may exercise their rights with respect to certain bank accounts over
which security has been granted in favor of the lenders at their discretion in the future.
Yukos has been meeting repeatedly with its lenders and will continue to maintain such discussions and take such
actions as it deems appropriate to ensure that all obligations under the financing agreements are met.
The press-release quotes Yukos CFO Bruce Misamore as saying: "This notice by the lending group is a direct
result of the actions of the Ministry of Taxes in its attempt to claim taxes, penalty interest, fines and penalties from
Yukos which are not due. The actions of the Ministry of Taxes have reduced, in the view of Yukos' lenders and
credit rating agencies, Yukos' creditworthiness and have also caused considerable anxiety to a number of the
largest financial institutions in the world."
Alexander Shadrin, the oil company's press spokesman, told Interfax the company continued to operate normally.
He said the creditors had not demanded early repayment of the loan, and that no restrictions had been placed on accounts
containing the funds to secure the loan.
"We consider that the notification is linked above all with the fact that the Arbitration Court prohibited Yukos
from disposing of or encumbering all of the company's assets and not assets equal to the Tax Ministry's
claims," Shadrin said.
Societe Generale S.A. is Co-ordinating Bank, Facility Agent and a Mandated Lead Arranger for the facility. Mandated
Lead Arrangers for the facility are Citibank N.A., Commerzbank AG, Credit Lyonnais S.A., Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Bank
Plc, ING Bank N.V., KBC Bank N.V., BNP Paribas, and UFJ Bank Nederland N.V. Passport banks are JSC Bank Societe General
Vostok (Moscow), Commerzbank (Eurasija) (Moscow) and Credit Lyonnais Rusbank Societe Anonyme (Moscow). [RU ASIA EUROPE
EEU EMRG ENR CRU BNK LOA CORA] pr
[Interfax] |
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