The first payments on the 5bn-ruble loan taken out to put up Yekaterinburg EXPO Exhibition Center must be made in April 2012. As the building itself has not paid off yet, it is possible that the center’s stockholder, the Mid-Urals Development Corporation, will have to have its debt restructured through a new loan scheme, Sverdlovsk Region Minister for Public Property Management Vitaly Nedelsky announced at a recent press conference.

‘Paying off the loan is the duty of the stockholders and not of the state. This includes the Mid-Urals Development Corporation that owns an 82% stake in the business. Managing the loan is primarily this company’s task and challenge. To pay it off, they might use the corporation’s authorized capital or get a new loan scheme where the newly commissioned buildings can serve as the collateral,’ the Minister said.

Nedelsky also noted that under the existing business plan, the profits made by Yekaterinburg EXPO could exceed the maintenance and operation expenses only in two years’ time.