EDB increases financing for Kazakhstan’s largest coal producer
Moscow. 15 November 2013. Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) and Bogatyr Komir signed a loan agreement today, under which the Bank will provide investment financing to this Kazakhstan’s largest coal producer. EDB’s loan of up to KZT 3.8 billion (US $25 million) is provided for seven years and will be used to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and machinery.
The agreement was signed by Gennady Zhuzhlev, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board at EDB, and Victor Shchukin, General Director of Bogatyr Komir.
This is the second loan provided to Bogatyr Komir. In December 2011 the Bank opened the first loan facility for the coal producer. Then it transferred approximately US $50 million to the company with a repayment period of seven years. Each year Bogatyr Komir channels US $40 to 50 million for re-equipment and this is the reason for its need for additional financing.
Bogatyr Komir is implementing an investment programme for re-equipment until 2016. The programme envisages the purchase of cutting-edge equipment for coal production, shipment and transportation and for the improvement of its properties (blending), as well as for the replacement of main process equipment.
“The Bank’s participation in this project contributes to the development of the coal industry in Kazakhstan and to the expansion of its mutual trade with Russia and Belarus,” says Gennady Zhuzhlev, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board at EDB. “Over the lending period Bogatyr Komir will make supplies to Russian companies alone to the tune of more than US $1 billion. In addition, the Kazakh coal producer intends to use a third of this loan to buy equipment in the Customs Union partner countries.”
The Bank’s experts estimate that the project (taking into consideration both loans) will trigger an increase in trade between the EDB member states by US $162 million a year.
Additional Information
Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. EDB’s charter capital exceeds US $1.5 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan. Read more at https://www.eabr.org.
Bogatyr Komir is Kazakhstan’s largest coal producer accounting for approximately 60% of all coal production in the Ekibastuz coal basin and approximately 45% of coal production in Kazakhstan. Over the years of operation the company has mined more than 1 billion tonnes of coal. Its core business is open-pit mining in the Ekibastuz basin at the Bogatyr mine.