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EBRD President hails latest St Petersburg project
Jean Lemierre, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, today signed an agreement for the Bank to lend €9.4 million (US$ 8 million) to build a state-of-the-art air cargo terminal at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport that will make a major contribution to improving the transport infrastructure in northwest Russia.
The signing took place at Pulkovo airport on Mr Lemierre’s arrival in St Petersburg at the start of the second leg of his first visit to Russia since being elected President of the EBRD last May.
Earlier, in Moscow, the EBRD President held meetings with Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and other senior government officials during which he underlined the Bank’s continued commitment to support Russia’s economic development, but said the extent of this support would depend on the speed at which long-overdue reforms were implemented.
The EBRD has committed nearly €2.7 billion to Russia since the Bank was set up in 1991. In the first eight months of this year, the Bank has committed €400 million and is on track to raise this figure to at least €700 million by the end of the year – triple the 1999 total.
The EBRD has committed over €470 million in debt and equity finance to projects in the St. Petersburg area and is the single largest provider of private-sector funding in the city.
In St Petersburg, the EBRD President will hold talks with Governor Vladimir Yakovlev and visit a number of local projects with which the Bank is associated. These will include a small business that grew thanks to loans provided under the EBRD’s Russia Small Business Fund (RSBF) programme. The President will also visit the Krasny Bor Hazardous Waste Site just outside the city to stress the environmental aspects of the Bank’s mission.
Speaking at today’s signing ceremony, the President said: "The Pulkovo Cargo Terminal represents one of the first privately-financed large infrastructure projects in Russia and demonstrates that private-sector capital can be mobilised for significant improvements in transport and logistics."
The 10,700-square-metre terminal will have a handling capacity of up to 35,000 tonnes of cargo a year. In 1999, Pulkovo handled 22,500 tonnes of cargo, less than a third the volume at Moscow’s Sheremetevo airport. Phase II expansion of the project envisages capacity at Pulkovo being increased to 60,000 tonnes and then to 90,000 tonnes in Phase III.
The terminal will be managed by GlobeGround, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa that is one of the world’s largest ground-handling providers. The project is a joint venture between GlobeGround (40 percent) and two local partners: State Unitary Aviation Enterprise Pulkovo (SEP) (40 percent) and Lenstrygilservice (LSGS) (20 percent). SEP manages and operates Pulkovo airport and the fleet of aircraft based there. LSGS is a Russian construction and planning firm privatised in 1993.
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