Rosneft’s US$2bn pre-export finance facility is progressing, with ABN Amro and Barclays inviting at least 20 further banks to join them at mandated lead arranger level.

The margin lies at 180bp over Libor, up from Rosneft’s previous foray into the market at 100bp and way above the 90bp seen for TNK-BP’s recent US$600mn five-year borrowing.. The five-year facility has a one-year grace period and an average life of three years.

Lenders who have been priced out of the Russian trade finance market in recent months are expected to take advantage of the higher pricing for this deal.

Rosneft, owned by the Russian government, is also lining up a US$7.3bn bridge facility through ABN Amro, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley.

The money is for financing the acquisition of a 10.7% stake in Gazprom Rosneft agreed to buy in June.

Morgan Stanley and Dresdner KW valued those shares – which will increase the Russian government’s stake in Gazprom to 51% – at between US$8.4bn and US$11.5bn.

The US$7.3bn loan will be repaid using proceeds from a planned Rosneft initial public offering to be launched next year.