German financiers provide $1.3bn for Uzbek gas chemical project
Three German banks have agreed to provide €1.1bn ($1.3bn) to fund an expansion at Uzbekistan's Shurtan gas chemicals complex, the Uzbek energy ministry reported on September 30.
Deutsche Bank has agreed to provide €500mn; Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg €300mn; and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale a further €300mn. The funds are being lent under an export financing principle, the ministry said, with no state guarantees. Germany's Euler Hermes, Italy's SACE, Netherlands' Atradius and other export credit agencies are providing insurance coverage.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
The agreements are "a significant endorsement of Uzbekistan's attractiveness as an investment," the ministry said.
Uzbekneftegaz chairman Mehriddin Abdullaev added that "the expansion of production capacity at the Shurtan gas chemical complex – the flagship of Uzbekistan’s gas chemical industry and a key polymer producer in the region – is another step towards achieving our goal of increasing volumes of deep processing of hydrocarbon raw materials to produce petrochemical products with high added value."
The overall coast of the Shurtan expansion plan is $1.8bn. Its operator, national oil company Uzbekneftegaz, is set to contribute $600mn. The project will raise the Soviet-built complex's annual production capacity by 280,000 metric tons of bimodal polyethylene, 100,000 mt of polypropylene and 50,000 mt of pyrolysis distillate.