MOSCOW, April 9 (RAPSI) - The Moscow Commercial Court has ordered indebted OAO Mechel, a Russia-based integrated mining and steel company, to pay about 50.2 billion rubles ($955 million) to VTB Bank, RAPSI reported on Thursday from the courtroom.

VTB Bank filed a suit after Mechel defaulted on its loan obligations last March.

Mechel argued that request to repay debt ahead of schedule was invalid.

Mechel has multi-billion-ruble debts. Sberbank, VTB Bank and Gazprombank are among its major creditors. It has been negotiating debt restructuring for some time, so far unsuccessfully.

Six suits were brought by state-run Sberbank against Mechel companies last October.

Industry Minister Denis Manturov said in March that Mechel cut its debt to $6.4 billion from $8.6 billion, according to RIA Novosti. About 40 percent of Mechel’s debt is in rubles.