"Car manufacturers are not our biggest debtors, and it's not the kind of problem area where solutions cannot be found," sales director Dmitry Goroshkov told reporters. Severstal supplies more than 60 percent of auto-body sheet to Russia's carmakers, he said.
Severstal and GAZ, Oleg Deripaska's carmaker, reached a settlement out of court last month, in which the carmaker will repay some debt and reorganize other loans, Goroshkov said. Severstal supplies about 70 percent of GAZ's steel, he said. GAZ spokeswoman Natalya Anisimova did not immediately return calls made after business hours.
Novolipetsk Steel chairman Vladimir Lisin last month called for GAZ to be bankrupted after it failed to clear debt.
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