|
$50 million to FSU's biggest steel pipe manufacturer
EBRD funds to help Chelyabinsk improve quality, gain energy savings
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is lending $50 million to OAO Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant, the largest steel pipe manufacturer in the former Soviet Union with an annual capacity of 3 million tonnes.
The 6½-year loan to the Chelyabinsk plant, one of the key suppliers of welded and seamless pipes to the oil and gas industries in Russia and the rest of the CIS, is the EBRD's first to the sector. It is also the first long-term loan negotiated by the borrower.
Hubert Pandza, the EBRD's Business Group Director for Russia & Central Asia, note that Chelyabinsk is a new borrower, a Russian-owned company the bulk of whose sales are to the domestic market. Despite that, only four months have passed since the first meeting with the plant's management and today's signing ceremony, he said. This shows what it is possible to do when a company's management is committed to increasing transparency and developing its business and governance culture, Mr Pandza added.
The borrower has committed to adhere to the minority shareholders' protection principles and standards in line with Russia's new Corporate Governance Code, which was drafted with the assistance of donor funds mobilised by the EBRD.
Andrey Komarov, Chairman of the Board of the Chelyabinsk plant said: "The loan will be used to modernise two key workshops producing seamless and welded pipes so as to bring output quality up to best western standards. The upgrade will allow the plant to supply up to 75,000 tonnes of high quality casing pipes a year for the oil and gas industry."
The Company has also agreed to implement an EBRD Environmental Action Plan under which it will replace its outdated open-hearth furnaces to meet Russian and international environmental standards, reduce air emissions and improve energy efficiency.
The Dutch government financed an environmental and energy efficiency audit of the Chelyabinsk plant.
|
