Russian state lender Sberbank is negotiating with aluminium company Rusal on a debt restructuring deal, which will help the company weather low aluminium prices, two banking sources told Reuters on Friday.
Loss-making Rusal has been hit by the weak aluminium price and maintaining net debt levels of around $10 billion.
“The model has been broadly agreed … We cannot afford the world’s largest producer to fail,” one of the sources said.
Rusal declined to comment on discussions with Sberbank. Reuters could not reach Sberbank for immediate comment.