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EBRD finances Slovak chemical company restructuring
Aquachemia to improve environmental standards and increase business
A Slovak company that produces caprolactum, a raw material used in the manufacturing of nylon, today received a €8.1 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to enhance production and improve environmental standards.
Aquachemia was founded last year by Italy's Bonazzi Group to manage a caprolactum plant spun off from the chemical conglomerate Pova?ské chemické závody, a.s., which was privatised in 1996. The plant is located in Zilina, one of the regions of the Slovak Republic, which has seen less investment.
The EBRD's eight-year loan will finance a comprehensive programme to refurbish and actively maintain Aquachemia's existing facilities, expand production through the construction of new facilities and raise the company's environmental standards to those of the European Union. Alongside the EBRD will be two local co-financiers, each providing a further €3 million with a shorter six-year maturity. The total financing amounts to €14.1 million.
The EBRD's Country Director for the Slovak Republic, Alexander Auboeck, said combining the EBRD's finance with the skill and know-how of the Bonazzi Group should help restructure Aquachemia into an efficient, environmentally sound and ultimately profitable business.
Tonino Beccegato, Director General of the Bonazzi Group said Aquachemia would follow on from other similar business models in Slovenia's Yulon and Aquasava, both co-financed by the EBRD, and which are now successful textile businesses. Mr Beccegato said that the refurbishment should turn Aquachemia into a successful low-cost, competitive producer.
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