AKIPRESS.COM - The US$ 260 million financing facility has been jointly arranged by the EBRD and UniCredit for the benefit of Kazakhstan’s Voskhod Chromium, a subsidiary of Turkey’s Yildirim Group, EBRD said in a press release on 23 February.

The facility will consist of two portions: the EBRD will provide US$ 130 million for its own account (known as the A-loan), and an equal amount will be provided by UniCredit Group (in the form of a B-loan).

The loan agreement has been signed in London in the presence of EBRD President, Sir Suma Chakrabarti; the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov; and senior representatives of UniCredit Group. The EBRD Managing Director for Energy and Natural Resources, Riccardo Puliti, signed the agreement on behalf of the Bank.

The financing will be used by Yildirim Group to restructure the Voskhod mine and improve its efficiency and competitiveness while reinforcing the overall environmental and operational health and safety standards. The plan also includes the acquisition of new mining equipment from world-class manufacturers, the expansion of facilities and intense underground mine development works.

On the day of the signing, in a separate event, the EBRD hosted a meeting of the Mining Subgroup of the UK-Kazakhstan Intergovernmental Commission, created after an agreement between the UK Prime Minister and the President of Kazakhstan to support cross-border investment and business cooperation between the two business communities. Both recent and anticipated changes in the subsoil use legislation were discussed by delegates including the Minister of Investments and Development of Kazakhstan, UK Trade and Investment and UK Export Finance agencies, and mining and service companies which are active or are considering investment opportunities in Kazakhstan.

To date, the EBRD has invested about US$ 7 billion into various sectors of the economy of Kazakhstan, with investments in 2014 alone reaching a record level of about US$ 700 million.