The amendment and restatement agreement on the loan was signed by a number of major international banks including ING Bank, Societe Generale, Uni Credit, BNP Paribs, ABM AMRO Bank and Caterpillar Financial Services.

The borrowers are Mechel’s chief mining divisions – Yakutugol Holding Company and Southern Kuzbass Coal Company.

The loan, which was in a monthly repayment phase, now has a 12-month grace period. At the end of that grace period repayments will start in equal monthly instalments until August 2015.

Mechel chief financial officer Stanislav Ploschenko said the move would stop the company having to set aside $600 million to service the loan by the end of 2013.

“Amending this credit is a key step in cutting down short-term debt through securing a grace period,” he said.

“At the same time we managed to obtain a more favourable security package and improve the covenant and overall structure of the loan.

“This successful deal demonstrates the high level of trust and support our banking partners lend the company, despite the volatility of the global markets.

“It also is remarkable that in the current challenging environment new international financial institutions such as ABN AMRO Bank, Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation and ICBC decided to join the syndicate.”