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EBRD loan to improve Albanian environment
Cement plant gets money to bring standards up to highest EU level
The EBRD and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) today signed a €66-million deal to finance the reconstruction of an Albanian cement plant that will help it achieve massive energy savings and meet stringent EU environmental requirements.
"This is our largest private-sector transaction in Albania and it's a real signal to the investment community that the investment climate has improved," said Charles Frank, First Vice-President of the EBRD, at a signing ceremony during the Bank's Annual Meeting in London.
"The most important aspect of the deal is the environmental one. It will lead to massive energy savings, of two-thirds in fuel consumption and of one-third in electricity. The plant will switch to low-sulphur coal as part of our Environmental Action Plan and effluent will be treated for the first time," Frank said.
The nine-and-a-half-year loan will finance the reconstruction of the Elbasan cement factory built in 1975 in central Albania, enabling it to increase production from the current 200,000 tonnes a year to 1 million tonnes. The rebuilding will take two years. The Elbasan plant is owned by the privately-held Lebanon-based Seament group.
EBRD environmental experts said the new plant would meet EU standards thanks to a nine-fold cut in emissions from cement kilns, which will fall from the current 9.9 milligrams per Normal cubic metre to 1.1 MG/Nm3. Carbon monoxide emissions are due to fall from the current 4.8 MGs/Nm3 to levels that are so low they cannot be measured.
The share of the deal for the EBRD and the IFC will be €16 million each. It will bring total EBRD commitments to Albania so far to about €120 million.
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