MOSCOW, July 22 (RAPSI) - Sberbank has increased its claim against indebted steel and coal producer Mechel and its subsidiaries, RAPSI reported on Wednesday from the Moscow Commercial Court.

A bank representative announced at a preliminary hearing on Wednesday that the claim has been increased due to the company’s failure to pay a principal loan debt, and the interest has also gone up.

The defendants in the case include Mechel Trading AG, Mecheltrans, Bratsk Ferroalloy Plant, Mechelservis and Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant.

The court supported the motion and postponed preliminary hearings until February 8, 2016. The case was postponed in order for Swiss Mechel Trading AG to be properly notified of the lawsuit. Mechel Trading AG is a borrower in the loan.

Sberbank is one of Mechel’s three largest creditors, alongside VTB Bank and Gazprombank. But unlike these two banks, Sberbank is not satisfied with Mechel’s debt restructuring proposals received in mid-April.

Sberbank CEO German Gref said they were not business proposals but declarations, in particular the debt-into-shares proposal. Sberbank later said it was negotiating the sale of Mechel’s debts to Russian investors.

Since the end of 2014, Sberbank and its affiliates have filed about 40 lawsuits with commercial courts against Mechel and its subsidiaries.

As of June 15, Mechel’s debt totaled $6.772 billion.