MOSCOW, May 15. /ITAR-TASS/. Igor Zyuzin’s Mechel has refinanced 40 billion rubles (about $1.2 billion) of the VTB loan, the mining and metals company’s spokesperson told ITAR-TASS.

The agreement signed on May 11 grants the company a grace period until April 2015. The final maturity term is in April 2018.

The credit line also stipulates an additional amount of 3.8 billion rubles (about $109) for the refinancing of another debt to VTB, which will not increase Mechel’s debt.

Earlier on Thursday, Mechel announced an additional agreement had been signed to the 2010 loan agreement with VTB, which increased the share of Mechel-Mining stocks pledged as collateral by 12.5% of the authorized capital to 37.5% plus one stock.

The agreement has also modified the repayment schedule and increased the allotted loan. The amount of the deal revealed (59.9 billion rubles, or $1.7 billion) included the debt plus interest payments for the loan period, the spokesperson said.

In February, Mechel’s Senior Vice-President for Finance Stanislav Ploshchenko said the company was negotiating refinancing of about $1 billion by the end of 2014, including about $500 million of VTB loans and several small credit lines.

The company’s total debt as of February 2014 amounted to about $9 billion.

Mechel’s main lenders were three major Russian banks — Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank as well as a large number of Western banks that participated in syndicates and club deals, said Ploshchenko.

Mechel Group assembles coal mining, iron ore concentrate, steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, HVA products, heat and electricity facilities.

Zyuzin holds 66.76% of the company. Other managers own less than 1%.