With Debt Reprieve, RusAl Will Fund Boguchansk Again

United Company RusAl, billionaire Oleg Deripaska's aluminum company, agreed to resume funding of Russia's biggest electricity project after foreign banks allowed it to suspend payment on $7.4 billion of debt. RusAl will pay 1.24 billion rubles ($40 million) to help cover wages owed to workers at the Boguchansk hydropower project in Siberia, according to a letter RusAl sent to state-run partner RusHydro, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg. RusAl said it paid an additional 193 million rubles on Wednesday. About 7,000 workers are employed at Boguchansk. "This offer solves the issue of payment arrears but not the question of resuming construction," said Yevgeny Druzyaka, a spokesman for RusHydro. Half of all building work has stopped because of nonpayment to workers and subcontracting companies, Druzyaka said by e-mail. RusAl is Russia's biggest nonstate debtor, owing about $17 billion, including $2.8 billion to shareholder Mikhail Prokhorov. The company has less than two months to renegotiate $7.4 billion owed to more than 70 banks including Citigroup, BNP Paribas and Merrill Lynch, after reaching a so-called standstill accord in March. In its letter, RusAl said the money it was offering was within the spending limits agreed to with creditors. RusHydro has spent 2.7 billion rubles on construction so far, according to the letter. Vera Kurochkina, a spokeswoman for RusAl, did not reply to e-mails or text messages seeking comment. RusAl last month recommended halting the 3,000-megawatt project altogether, a proposal that was rejected by RusHydro. Deripaska earlier put off breaking ground on a nearby aluminum smelter for at least two years. source：www.themoscowtimes.com