Sovcomflot Pens $316m Credit Facility

OAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) has signed a new $316 million 10 year credit facility with a consortium of three leading international banks: ING Bank N.V. (ING) of the Netherlands; KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH (KfW) of Germany and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) of Japan.

The funds will be used towards financing two new ice-class LNG carriers Velikiy Novgorod and Pskov, which will operate on long-term contracts with Gazprom Global LNG.

The new high-spec Atlanticmax Ice2 (1C) class gas carriers feature a tri-fuel engine, a cargo capacity of 170,000m³ and are equipped for operating in harsh and low temperature conditions.

Their design is optimised to provide the utmost trading flexibility to their charterers. They are able to transport LNG year round to and from most of the world’s existing LNG terminals, including the ability to load cargoes at Russia’s Sakhalin-II terminal.

The vessels will form part of Sovcomflot’s recently established company SCF Gas Carriers Ltd., the Group’s dedicated vehicle for its expanding gas transportation business.

Nikolai Kolesnikov, Senior Executive Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer, said: “This is the third successful international debt financing accomplished by SCF Group in 2013, which further strengthens the Group’s liquidity position and, despite challenging conditions in the global financial and shipping markets, enables it to address its upcoming financial requirements. We are very grateful to all our financial partners for their ongoing support towards the growth of our business.”

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Press Release, December 17, 2013