Russian oil and gas company Slavneft has mandated Raiffeisen Bank International to coordinate a $500 million unsecured syndicated loan, banking sources said.
Slavneft began informal talks for a deal last November, but it was only last week that Raiffeisen sent an email to banks inviting them to make formal proposals, one of the bankers said.
"The company has not asked for a specific tenor or pricing, it has basically asked banks to make a proposal around how much they are willing to lend, for how long and at what price," the banker said.
Slavneft's previous loan was agreed in January 2013 when it signed a $730 million three-year deal , which was increased from $500 million after an oversubscription.
That deal was coordinated by ING Bank with the wider bank group including Nordea Bank, Raiffeisen Bank International, Unicredit, Commerzbank, HSBC, Rosbank, VTB Bank, Volkbank and BNP Paribas.
Slavneft was not immediately available to comment.
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