RUSAL repays Alfa debt after bankruptcy threat

* Russian aluminium units repay $85.9 million * Alfa hopes for resolution on other Deripaska debts * Payment follows bankruptcy threat by Alfa-Bank By Aleksandras Budrys and Robin Paxton MOSCOW, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Indebted Russian magnate Oleg Deripaska's aluminium company said on Thursday it repaid debts worth $85.9 million to Alfa-Bank after the private lender threatened to pursue the bankruptcy of two RUSAL units. UC RUSAL, the world's largest aluminium producer, said in a statement it had spoken to its major creditors and agreed to pay the money to Alfa-Bank to soothe a long-running feud over debts between Deripaska and Alfa's principal owner, Mikhail Fridman. "Alfa-Bank welcomes this step by UC RUSAL and we hope that we can reach constructive and mutually acceptable resolutions on other issues," the bank's deputy chief executive, Vladimir Tatarchuk, said in a statement confirming receipt of payments. Deripaska, rated Russia's richest man by Forbes magazine before the financial crisis struck last year, is in protracted talks with Russian and international lenders to restructure the debts faced by his various companies. The resolution of his various disputes with Alfa could prove crucial in his attempts to keep his industrial empire intact. Alfa-Bank had earlier issued a statement saying it asked courts to consider declaring bankrupt two units of UC RUSAL after they failed to repay debts totalling over $70 million. UC RUSAL said last week it expects to finalise long-running debt restructuring talks with lenders by the end of October. Alfa-Bank also traded conflicting statements with GAZ, the carmaker owned by Deripaska, over the sticking point in debt restructuring talks between the bank and Russia's second-largest auto producer. GAZ said late on Wednesday it was close to restructuring its 39 billion rouble ($1.3 billion) debt, but its failure to agree with Alfa, which it accused of demanding exceptional conditions, was slowing the effort. GAZ said it signed an agreement on debt restructuring with 21 Russian and foreign banks that would extend repayment by five years, including a two-year grace period on the main debt. But Tatarchuk denied his bank was obstructing a deal, saying: "Alfa-Bank is ready to adhere to the GAZ debt restructuring agreement." In June, Fridman filed a bankruptcy suit against Deripaska's building company. Before that, Fridman was rebuked by President Dmitry Medvedev for harassing big companies over debts. He and Deripaska issued a statement later saying they were not in conflict over debt. (Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; editing by David Cowell and Andre Grenon)