Business news

Eurasian Development Bank to lend $400m to Belaruskali

Belaruskali Director General Ivan Golovaty and EDB Chairman of the Board Andrei Belyaninov during the signing of the agreement

 MINSK, 14 January (BelTA) – The Eurasian Development Bank will lend $400 million to the Belarusian potash mining company OAO Belaruskali. The credit agreement will be signed in Minsk today, BelTA learned from EDB Chairman of the Board Andrei Belyaninov.

Andrei Belyaninov said: “The size of the loan is $400 million. The company’s business is geared towards export, this is why we have no qualms about signing it without government guarantees. We believe it is mutual trust.” Work on the possibility of signing the agreement began in 2019.

In his words, the money will be spent on retooling and on replenishing the company’s floating assets among other things. The loan will have to be repaid over the course of five years. The sum takes into account the previously granted $100 million.

Belaruskali Director General Ivan Golovaty specified that some of the loan will be spent on finishing the construction of the Petrikovsky mining and processing factory. The project was launched in 2015. “The first stage is 90% complete. We intend to finish it in 2021. Work has already begun on the potassium horizon. Excavations are in progress,” Ivan Golovaty said. He confirmed the company is ready for mutually beneficial contacts with the Eurasian Development Bank.

So far about $690 million has been invested in the construction of the Petrikovsky mining and processing factory. Plans have been made to invest another $200-250 million this year.

The important projects the loan will be spent on also include the construction of the Darasinsky mine and the launch of the second stage of the potassium nitrate factory.

The public joint-stock company (OAO) Belaruskali is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of potash fertilizers. The company comprises four mine administrations, auxiliary and support divisions.

The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with a view to facilitating the development of market economies in the member states, their sustainable economic growth, and the expansion of mutual trade and economic ties. The member states of the bank are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.

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