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EBRD invests in Romanian industrial plant
Equity and loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will help to introduce state-of-the-art technology in a new plant in Romania to manufacture ion-exchange resin, which is used mainly for industrial and domestic water purification.
By an agreement signed today in Bucharest, the EBRD will provide an equity investment of US$ 3.5 million and, subject to certain conditions, a loan of US$ 11 million to Virolite Functional Polymers SA, a Romanian company. The total cost of the project is US$ 39 million.
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US government agency, will provide a loan of US$ 5 million and investment insurance up to US$ 15 milllion to the project. This is the first time that OPIC and EBRD are co-financing in Romania.
Noreen Doyle, Senior Banker at the EBRD, said: "This is the first major private sector industrial financing in Romania for the Bank. The new plant will be able to supply the domestic market and transform Romania from a net importer to a net exporter of ion-exchange resin, thus generating hard currency for the country."
Virolite Functional Polymers SA is a joint venture between Viromet SA, a majority State-owned Romanian chemical company, and Purolite International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Purolite Limited. The joint venture will construct, commission and operate the new facility within the grounds of Viromet SA. An environmental audit and assessment were conducted on the project site and operations as part of the EBRD's environmental due diligence requirements for the project. Monitoring will continue throughout the project.
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