CJSC UMC (United Metallurgical Company) has completely placed the primary bond issue to the value of 3 billion rubles on June 9, 2005. The rate of the first coupon was at an annual interest rate of 9.2 percent.

Federal Financial Markets Service listed the issue including 3 million three-year bonds at par value of 1,000 rubles on May 19, 2005. Raiffeisenbank Austria and Renaissance Capital are the lead-managers of the issue.

The United Metallurgical Company (UMC) is one of the key Russian market players, which provides leading energy, transportation and industrial companies with its goods and services. The UMC group comprises five large metallurgical enterprises. The Company's Pipe-Rolling Division consists of Vyksa Steel Works (Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast) and Almetyevsk Pipe Plant (Tatarstan). The Metallurgical Division includes Chusovoy Metallurgical Works and Gubakhinsky Coke and Chemical Works, both located in Perm region as well as Shchelkovo Metallurgical Works, located in Greater Moscow.

The Company employs over 30.000 people.
The UMC provides over 20% of all domestic steel pipes' supplies including 30% supplies of the large diameter pipes. The Company holds more than 60% market shares both of the railroad wheels and automotive springs. In 2004 the UMC group produced almost 1 million tones of steel pipes, over 430.000 tones of medium section and hoop and 750.000 of railroad wheels.

The Company's Pipe-Rolling Division consists of Vyksa Steel Works and Almetyevsk Pipe Plant, both located in the Volga region. Vyksa Steel Works (VSW) is a leading Russian producer of the steel pipes, from 15 mm to 1067 mm in diameter and wall thickness up to 32 mm. The pipes are manufactured with two- and three-layer anticorrosive polyethylene coatings. Almetyevsk Pipe Plant (APP) produces steel pipes, from 15 mm to 219 mm in diameter with two-layer anticorrosive polyethylene coating.

All steel pipes produced at UMC's plants are certified according to the American Petroleum Institute (API) standards.

Our major customers are the leading Russian and international energy companies such as Gazprom, Transneft, LUKoil, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch/Shell and etc.

The UMC frequently participates and wins prestigious international tenders supplying pipes for the well-known pipeline projects in Russia and abroad - the Baltic Pipeline System (BTS), Sakhalin 1-2 oil & gas development projects, Azerigas (national Azeri gas operator) reconstruction facilities.

The UMC is the largest European producer of the railroad wheels, holding over 60% domestic market share. The wheel rolling shop at Vyksa Steel Works is the world's largest railroad wheels' manufacture. The Company exports its railroad wheels to 15 countries all over the world. In 2003 the UMC signed an agreement with the Russian national railroad operator - OAO "RZD", which provides that the Company would supply 5 million railroad wheels for 'RZD' till 2010. The contract costs unprecedented $2,4 billion. Global majors GE and Samsung also traditionally consumes the VSW's railroad wheels.

The UMC's Metallurgical Division includes Chusovoy Metallurgical Works and Gubakhinsky Coke and Chemical Works, both located in Perm region as well as Shchelkovo Metallurgical Works, located in Greater Moscow.

"AK&M", 09/06/2005 17:59