Gazprombank and Asaka Bank signed a co-financing agreement to fund important investment projects, including a metallurgical plant not far from Tashkent.
The plant will produce cold-rolled sheets with and without coating.
The EUR 280-million project will be launched in the coming months so the plant could be put into operation in 2019.
The Tashkent metallurgical plant will produce an estimated 500,000 tons of steel, a bit short of what Uzbekistan buys from abroad, to edge out imports.
“It is important that this project enjoys the Uzbek government’s support. Uzbekistan’s Reconstruction and Development Fund is the key investor, providing around EUR 100 million for the project,” said Aleksei Matveev, Gazprombank’s Deputy Chairman. “The project is strategically important for the Republic and will have a strong socio-economic impact. Its success will help mitigate the country’s reliance on metallurgical export and will greatly boost its industrial potential, creating new jobs and bolstering tax income. Gazprombank has for many years developed cooperation with its partners in Uzbekistan, and this agreement with Asaka on the TMP will take this cooperation to a new level.”
Russian investors also like the project because the turnkey construction is undertaken by MetProm, a Russian contractor.
The project provides for vast exports of Russian equipment and services, so creditors could rely on EXIAR’s insurance and borrowers on lower costs. (UzReport/Ukrainian metal)
