The eight and a half year loan comes from the ING bank, based in Amsterdam, but it is covered by a guarantee from Finnvera, the Finnish export credit agency.
The money will be used to finance the purchase of fixed and wireless telecommunication equipment, software and related services from Nokia and from its Russian subsidiary. MegaFon is part-controlled by Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov.
MegaFon CFO Gevork Vermishyan said the deal was “the tenth jubilee deal covered by the guarantee of Finnvera”. The loan “confirms the continued trust of international financial institutions in the credit quality of MegaFon”, he added.
“The attractive terms of this financing will allow us to invest in the development of the network with even greater confidence and to continue to improve the quality of services for our subscribers,” he said.
Vermishyan is expected to become CEO of the group following the decision earlier this month by current CEO Sergey Soldatenkov to step down. MegaFon, Russia’s second largest mobile network, cancelled its listing on the London Stock Exchange earlier this month.
