Azernews.Az

BAKU – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has allocated a $2.5 million loan to one of the largest producers of water and soft drinks in Azerbaijan, the EBRD Baku office said.

The allocation to Taj Aqua Vita, the owner of the popular Aqua Vita and Gulustan brands, aims to help the company increase its production capacity and to improve its operational efficiency.

The EBRD’s loan will finance part of the company’s capital expenditures program and will be used to purchase a new modern bottling-moulding line. The new equipment will be used in producing plastic bottles and help the company achieve at least a twofold increase in its production capacity and to streamline its operations.

Established in 1997, Taj LLC is a private locally-owned water and soft drinks company and one of the very few companies in Azerbaijan holding international standards quality certification. It sources its water from a spring in Khudat, 200 kilometers north of the capital Baku.

The EBRD has been operating in Azerbaijan since the country’s independence in 1991 and to-date has invested $1.6 billion. The bank’s activities are focused on the financial sector, the real economy outside oil and gas and the development of the country’s infrastructure. In 2010 the EBRD signed 13 projects worth a total of $76.7 million.