Troika Gets EBRD Loan

Troika Dialog will receive a $150 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to fund its trading and brokerage business, the EBRD said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement.

"The planned five-year senior loan is part of the bank's anti-crisis response," the EBRD said. (Bloomberg)

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Severstal to Sell U.S. Plant

Severstal agreed to sell its Allenport plant in the United States to North American Trading.

Olga Antonova, a spokeswoman for Severstal, said Tuesday by telephone that the steelmaker signed a letter of intent. North American Trading is owned by William Kingston, who plans to reopen the Pennsylvania plant with 75 workers to produce cold-rolled metal with stainless steel coating for export, the Pittsburgh Tribune reported Tuesday, citing Kingston. He will invest $400 million to upgrade the plant over five years, the newspaper said. (Bloomberg)

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Putin Slams Oil Regulators

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticized regulators for slowing access to Russia's oil and gas deposits and ordered officials to streamline the process for firms seeking to develop fields.

"The removal of bureaucratic obstacles is inadmissibly slow," Putin said at a meeting with regulators Tuesday. "Natural resources are the goose that lays the golden egg, that's why we need to pay special attention to this issue." (Bloomberg)

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Razgulyai to Buy Farmland

Razgulyai Group is seeking anti-monopoly approval to buy 67,458 hectares of agricultural land, the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service said, Interfax reported.

Razgulyai plans to purchase nine farms mainly in the Bashkortostan region and a meat farm with 33,500 hectares of land, it said. (Bloomberg)

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Inter Forms Kyrgyz Venture

Inter RAO formed a joint venture in Kyrgyzstan to build a hydropower plant in the Central Asian country.

The new plant will be able to produce 5.1 billion kilowatt hours per year when completed, Inter RAO said Tuesday, without providing more details of the project. (Bloomberg)

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Firm Gets Loan From China

RATM Cement Holding may borrow as much as $200 million from China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation, Kommersant reported Tuesday.

The Chinese state-owned company may provide 10- to 15-year financing to help RATM Cement fund investments in its new production line in the Irkutsk region, RATM Cement CEO Viktor Belyaev said, Kommersant reported. (Bloomberg)

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Harrah's Eyes Azov Casino

Harrah's Entertainment, the world's biggest casino company, may build a resort on the Azov Sea, Vedomosti reported Tuesday.

Harrah's may join U.S. construction company Asati in building a complex in Azov-City, one of four gambling zones planned in the country, Vedomosti said, citing Asati founder Alex Kogan.

The resort, which will include a casino, hotels and conference centers, will cost between $50 million and $100 million, Kogan said. (Bloomberg)

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