Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 21
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
Azerbaijani company METAK, a leading producer and trader of plastic and metallic pipes, plans to direct a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on refinancing of loans borrowed from local financial institutions, Fuad Zulfugarov, financial director of METAK, told Trend Dec. 21.
“The contract with the EBRD was signed on Dec. 20,” he said. “The loan is allocated for a period of six years at an interest rate of about 10 percent per annum. This is a very favorable interest rate.”
He added that the EBRD allocated a loan to METAK namely within the existing investment program, as the bank wasn’t interested in the usual refinancing.
“We already have a ready-made investment plan for three years, the total cost of which is 25 million manats,” he noted. “Of this amount, we have already spent 10 million manats in 2017. Additionally, we will spend 8 million manats next year and 7 million manats in 2019. These loans are allocated for the expansion of the company’s activity - construction of buildings, purchase of equipment, primary raw materials, etc. Our goal is the development of import-substituting production in Baku, Sumgait, Neftchala and Gusar cities, as well as in Balakhany settlement. This is while the main projects will be implemented in Baku and Sumgait.”
He added that within the framework of the projects, it is planned to establish production of cardboard boxes, plastic pallets, garbage containers, electric welded pipes and profiles, polyethylene pipes, pipes for drip irrigation, sewer corrugated pipes and so on.
Earlier, the EBRD announced allocation of the manat equivalent of 8 million euros for support the company’s expansion plans. This is the first corporate loan in local currency manat allocated by the bank to Azerbaijan.
The loan was allocated on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding was signed in October 2017 between the EBRD and the Central Bank of Azerbaijan for lending to local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in local currency.
Azerbaijan has been cooperating with the EBRD since 1997. Since the start of its operations in the country, the bank has invested over $2.8 billion in 163 projects in the financial, corporate, infrastructure and energy sectors, with 58 percent of those investments in the private sector.
Founded in 1997 as a trading company, METAK successfully moved into production and has become one of the leading companies in steel and plastic pipes in Azerbaijan.
