Russian property company AFI Development announced this week that it has obtained a five-year $74 mln (EUR 57 mln) project loan from Sberbank. The loan will be in Russian roubles and will be used to complete construction works at the Ozerkovskaya Embankment Project (Phase III), in line with the company's new strategy to resume development on a number of projects.
Russian property company AFI Development announced this week that it has obtained a five-year $74 mln (EUR 57 mln) project loan from Sberbank. The loan will be in Russian roubles and will be used to complete construction works at the Ozerkovskaya Embankment Project (Phase III), in line with the company's new strategy to resume development on a number of projects.
The loan carries an initial interest rate of 13%. Following project completion in 2011, the interest rate will be reduced to 11.75%.
AFI Development, a subsidiary of Africa Israel Investments, put the Ozerkovskaya Embankment project on hold after the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. Located in the Moscow business area of Zamoskvorechie, the scheme will comprise 75,500 m2 of office and residential space.
'We continue to monitor trends in the Russian real estate market with a view to potentially restarting further projects from our existing portfolio during the remainder of the year,' said Alexander Khaldey, director of AFI Development. The company said it 'has decided to resume this project in anticipation of improving demand for class-A offices in prime locations of the City of Moscow and in light of negotiations with a number of potential tenants for this property'.