Russian Banks Awash in Dollars Make Loans Company Debt of Choice

Foreign-currency deposits and accounts held at Sberbank PJSC, the nation‘s largest lender, rose 33 percent this year to almost $90 billion as of Oct. 1, according to data from the bank. Lenders are charging some exporters interest rates that are lower than yields the companies would have to offer to sell bonds on international markets, according to Citigroup Inc.

While MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC and Gazprom PJSC have sold Eurobonds this year, other companies that aren‘t blocked from Western capital markets by sanctions are turning to banks instead. EuroChem Group AG, a fertilizer maker controlled by billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, took out a $750 million facility in September from a group of international and domestic lenders, including Sberbank‘s Swiss unit and Rosbank PJSC.