|
EBRD and ICDF invest US$ 2 million in Azeri motel
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Cooperation Development Fund, Taipei, are investing US$ 2 million in the Silk Road Motel in Azerbaijan. The 142-room 3-star motel is currently under construction in Garadagh, just south of Baku. It is being built adjacent to the oilfields, and is expected to open in summer 2000.
"This investment demonstrates that non-oil sector projects can be developed in Azerbaijan and that there is a good potential market for service providers," commented Lindsay Forbes, EBRD Country Director for Azerbaijan.
This is the first project to be funded under the EBRD's new Direct Investment Fund Programme. One of the aims of the Programme is to demonstrate the viability of equity investments in small and medium-sized enterprises, primarily in the Caucasus, south-eastern Europe, Central Asia, Belarus and Moldova.
Antos Glogowski, a director of Wembley Developments Azerbaijan, the sponsor of the Silk Road Motel, added: "The Silk Road Motel aims to provide good-quality, affordable accommodation, specifically addressing the needs of oil-related, short- and long-term business travellers. One of the impediments to the development of Azerbaijan's oil economy is the cost of affordable accommodation in Baku."
The EBRD is making an equity investment of US$ 1.6 million while the Taiwanese Development Fund is making a US$ 0.4 million equity investment through the Financial Intermediary Special Fund of the ICDF. The total costs of the project are estimated at US$ 5.1 million.
|
