Mirland has become the latest in a string of Russian developers to sign a debt refinancing agreement in the wake of improving market sentiment. The company has refinanced two loan facilities totalling $43 mln (EUR 31 mln) with GazpromBank and Sberbank, two of Russia's leading banks.

The operation is in line with the company's strategy of actively managing its funding sources to finance existing and future development activities. They follow the sale earlier this year of series-D bonds on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange which raised an additional $10 mln.

The company is refinancing an existing credit facility on the Vernissage Mall in Yaroslavl. The new five-year loan amounts to just over $29 mln, representing the remaining balance of the previous loan following scheduled amortization. The new interest rate is 9.25% per annum, from 12% previously.

The other refinancing involves an office building in Moscow, forming part of the Century Project. The new seven-year loan amounts to $14 mln, and is repayable at an interest rate of 7.7%.

Debt financing has been gradually returning to the Russian market since the fourth quarter of 2010, according to market experts, with lenders VTB, Sberbank and several foreign banks judiciously re-opening the taps with a focus on existing client relationships. Main borrowers so far include developers Sistema Hals, AFI Development, Mirax Group and Renova StroiGroup.

'We are delighted to have procured these new loan facilities amidst early signs of recovery and improvement in the domestic funding markets in Russia following a challenging period in world and domestic financial markets,' said chairman Nigel Wright.