EBRD loan to fund construction of Azeri methanol plant
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) has allocated a $120 million loan to Azerbaijan Methanol
Company (AzMeCo) to support the diversification of the Azerbaijani
economy. The loan will be used to finance AzMeCo's construction of
a methanol plant in the Garadagh region of Azerbaijan, south of the
capital Baku.
A cooperation agreement between the EBRD and AzMeCo was signed in Baku on Tuesday at a ceremony attended by Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev, special guest Tony Blair, government officials and parliament members. The loan documentation is to be completed in the coming weeks.
This is the first methanol project to be financed by the EBRD, and the bank’s largest investment to date in a locally owned company in Azerbaijan. With total costs of $330 million, the project is co-financed by the International Bank of Azerbaijan.
The plant with production capacity of 561,000 tons of methanol per year will add value to Azerbaijan’s important reserves of natural gas by converting gas into methanol for export.
Over half of operations on building the plant have been completed, with commissioning scheduled for the last quarter of 2010.
In future, AzMeCo plans to diversify the plant’s output, including the production of urea and ammonia.
Kevin Bortz, EBRD Director for Natural Resources, stressed the importance of the project for Azerbaijan’s industrial sector.
"The new methanol plant will stimulate the development of petrochemical industry, which will generate more investments and new employment opportunities in the country.
"The EBRD will continue its cooperation with AzMeCo to support the development of the company, and we are open to examine further financing for the next stages of the project," Bortz said.
Tony Blair, a former British Prime Minister, said the plant is of great importance both for Azerbaijan and the European Union, as its construction will allow to produce alternate sources of energy.
"This project fully complies with the standards of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)," Blair said.
The Transparency Initiative was announced by Tony Blair in 2002 to increase the transparency of payments of oil, gas and mining companies made to the government and state revenues from extractive industries. Azerbaijan joined the Initiative in 2003.
Since the beginning of its operations in Azerbaijan, the EBRD has committed over $1 billion across more than 90 projects in corporate, financial, infrastructure and energy sectors.*
A cooperation agreement between the EBRD and AzMeCo was signed in Baku on Tuesday at a ceremony attended by Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev, special guest Tony Blair, government officials and parliament members. The loan documentation is to be completed in the coming weeks.
This is the first methanol project to be financed by the EBRD, and the bank’s largest investment to date in a locally owned company in Azerbaijan. With total costs of $330 million, the project is co-financed by the International Bank of Azerbaijan.
The plant with production capacity of 561,000 tons of methanol per year will add value to Azerbaijan’s important reserves of natural gas by converting gas into methanol for export.
Over half of operations on building the plant have been completed, with commissioning scheduled for the last quarter of 2010.
In future, AzMeCo plans to diversify the plant’s output, including the production of urea and ammonia.
Kevin Bortz, EBRD Director for Natural Resources, stressed the importance of the project for Azerbaijan’s industrial sector.
"The new methanol plant will stimulate the development of petrochemical industry, which will generate more investments and new employment opportunities in the country.
"The EBRD will continue its cooperation with AzMeCo to support the development of the company, and we are open to examine further financing for the next stages of the project," Bortz said.
Tony Blair, a former British Prime Minister, said the plant is of great importance both for Azerbaijan and the European Union, as its construction will allow to produce alternate sources of energy.
"This project fully complies with the standards of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)," Blair said.
The Transparency Initiative was announced by Tony Blair in 2002 to increase the transparency of payments of oil, gas and mining companies made to the government and state revenues from extractive industries. Azerbaijan joined the Initiative in 2003.
Since the beginning of its operations in Azerbaijan, the EBRD has committed over $1 billion across more than 90 projects in corporate, financial, infrastructure and energy sectors.*
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