INTERVIEW-RUSAL debt talks not a test case-Shuvalov

MOSCOW, June 23 (Reuters) - Western bankers mistakenly view restructuring talks over the world's largest aluminium producer's $7.4 billion in foreign debt as a test case for Russia, Russia's first deputy prime minister said on Tuesday. "I disagree that it is a litmus test," Igor Shuvalov, first deputy to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in charge of government anti-crisis measures, told Reuters Financial Television. "What, is everything about RUSAL's debt some kind of systemic situation for the Russian Federation? That is Western bankers' problem," he said. UC RUSAL, controlled by Oleg Deripaska, who this year lost his title as Russia's richest man, is in its fourth month of negotiations with a 70-strong club of foreign creditors over the debt, just under half its $16.8 billion total liabilities. Western bankers have said the outcome of the talks will determine their ability to shoulder Russian risk in the coming years and much will depend on the government's position. "The fact that this illusion has been created for them thanks to clever influence ... has nothing to do with the Russian government. It is Western bankers' problem," he said. He did not specify whose influence he meant. "What they've imagined, that Deripaska and his debt portfolio are a litmus test and whether we bail him out or not will mean something going forward, is not true and is a misperception by these Western bankers," he added. "The sooner they understand that, the better." WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? When the crisis hit Russian shares last year the government launched a $50 billion programme to bail out indebted oligarchs at risk of losing assets to Western creditors. The programme was cut short this year after the government issued just over $10 billion to stave off margin calls. Shuvalov said the government could give loan guarantees in some cases but largely expected borrowers to handle their own debt talks. "Go agree with your creditors," he said. "Russian, foreign, whichever you want. What is the problem?" Among the recipients of the bailout funds was RUSAL, which refinanced a $4.5 billion one-year loan backed by shares in Norilsk Nickel with state bank VEB. The $4.5 billion VEB loan has become a hot issue with some members of the creditors club. Some say it will be enough if VEB extends the loan for a year, while others say it should be converted to equity. The largest shareholder in Norilsk Nickel, tycoon Vladimir Potanin's Interros, would be willing to buy the stake if it was put up for sale, a newspaper said on Tuesday [ID:nLN448381]. "We have an extreme measure, of which the prime minister has spoken -- asset buyouts," Shuvalov said. "As you know, we have not yet resorted to this measure. ... We don't yet have a single project on which we are ready to take this decision.