Russia's VTB to grant $500mln loan to developer DON-Stroi

MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state-run VTB Bank will grant a $500 million loan to a major Russian developer to help it complete projects amid the credit crunch, a business paper reported on Monday.

DON-Stroi, which has implemented over 50 projects in the sphere of housing and commercial property construction with total floorspace of over 4.5 million square meters, signed last week a number of long-term agreements with VTB on the loan, Vedomosti reported, citing Timur Batkin, general director of DON-Story subsidiary DS-Realty.

According to Vedomosti, the parties to the loan agreement did not specify the interest rate or the term, but it is known that the loan is a complicated structured facility, with the last payment expected in 2012.

The loan will be granted as part of VTB's program of state support for the real sector of the economy, Vedomosti said.

DON-Stroi will channel the entire loan facility into the construction of housing in Moscow, primarily "to complete construction of houses with a high degree of readiness," the paper quoted Batkin as saying.