By Elena Fabrichnaya
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A handful of Russian state-owned companies operating in backbone industries on Wednesday asked for government support to help reduce their debt burdens after a central bank rate hike to 15%.
The bank raised rates by 200 basis points last Friday to boost the weak the rouble and address stubborn inflation and rising budget spending.
With most loans to companies issued at floating rates, the jump hits highly leveraged firms hard. Companies including Russian Post, Russian Railways and leading carmaker Avtovaz all came cap-in-hand to a meeting in Russia's upper house on Wednesday.
Elena Stepina, Russian Post's deputy finance director, proposed considering "additional capitalisation of the corporation to reduce debt obligations, subsidies for interest reimbursement, long-term investment funds ... and loans at preferential rates to come from the National Wealth Fund".
Russian Post asked for 20 billion roubles ($217 million) to service loans and another 42 billion to raise employee salaries.
Lawmaker Ivan Abramov said Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine meant that one-third of state-owned companies made losses in 2022.
Avtovaz receives 20 billion roubles in government support annually, but half is spent on debt servicing, Abramov said.
Avtovaz Vice President Sergei Gromak said the debt had been inherited from former majority shareholder Renault (EPA:RENA), which sold its stake to the state last year, reportedly for one rouble, as fallout from the Ukraine conflict drove Western manufacturers out.
He said the servicing bill would rise to 17 billion roubles next year, forcing Avtovaz to choose between slowing down development and passing higher costs to customers.
Gromak proposed budget funds be freed up to subsidise loans for backbone industries, but added: "It's clear there is not enough money in the budget for everyone."
Representatives of Russian Railways, flag carrier Aeroflot and state bank VEB also complained of high rates.
The central bank said its job was to reduce inflation to 4%, and that this would eventually allow lending rates to drop. ($1 = 92.1520 roubles)