The state has made the first payment in its $7.15 billion purchase of a 10.7 percent stake in gas monopoly Gazprom, totalling 16.24 billion roubles ($567.8 million), Interfax news agency said on Thursday. The Russian government secured control of Gazprom in June by buying the 10.7 percent stake from the company in the form of treasury shares, a precursor to lifting curbs on foreign investors trading in the gas giant's shares.
It had promised to transfer the money for the deal to subsidiaries of Gazprom in three instalments, the first of which was due by July 23 and the last by December 25.
"The first tranche was paid today (Thursday)," Interfax quoted a source close to the deal as saying, giving no details.
To finance the deal, the government has been talking to a group of major investment banks to raise a record $7 billion. But it appears the government has had to find alternative sources of funding for the first tranche after banking sources said the documentation for the loan proved difficult to get in place ahead of the July 23 deadline.
The syndicated loan was due to be made in three instalments, with $600 million drawn down this week, an $800-million payment in a few months and a final loan of around $5.8 billion at the end of the year, said a source familiar with the deal.
The banks leading the negotiations are Morgan Stanley, ABN Amro and J.P. Morgan with BNP Paribas, Barclays Plc and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein also in the group, banking sources say.