Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Ba1 rating to the proposed USD 0.5 to 1 billion of loan participation notes to be issued by Steel Capital SA a limited liability company incorporated in Luxembourg under its medium term note program totaling USD 3 billion rated Ba1.

The notes will be issued for the sole purpose of financing a loan to Severstal OAO Severstal will use the proceeds from the loan for general corporate purposes including refinancing of indebtedness. The outlook on the rating is stable.

Mr Denis Perevezentsev vice president senior analyst of Moody and lead analyst for Severstal said that "The assigned rating on the notes is the same as Severstal's corporate family rating and we rank the proposed notes pari passu with the company's other unsecured debt.” The note holders will benefit from certain covenants made by Severstal in the underlying loan agreement, including a negative pledge and restrictions on mergers and disposals.”

Source - Moody

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