State energy company to raise $200 mln for polymer production
By Gulgiz Dadashova
The state energy company SOCAR plans to raise up to $200 million from local banks as part of the effort to establish polymer production in Azerbaijan.
SOCAR Vice-President Suleyman Gasimov said that SOCAR has already established an enterprise with authorized capital of $51 million. The company plans to keep its stake in the project at the level of 51 percent and the rest will be offered to privately owned companies.
The newly established SOCAR Polimer enterprise will undertake the production of polymers and other chemicals on the basis of low pressure polypropylene and polyethylene.
Gasimov said the total amount of the expected investment in SOCAR Polimer plant, which will operate in Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park, is estimated at $500 million.
Gasimov noted that this is a very profitable and interesting project.
According to him, nearly 30 percent of investments in the project will be leveraged from the shareholders and a major part is to be attracted from banks and through issuing long-term nominal bonds which will be placed in the domestic market.
Gasimov said a part of the funds received from the issuance of bonds is expected to be spent on the development of the Umid field with around 200 billion cubic meters of gas reserves in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
Earlier, Gasimov said that the development of the field does not require huge investments, but the management instructed the SOCAR Umid joint venture to take the necessary steps for issuing securities in the future.