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EBRD invests in Ukraine wood-based panel industry
A €60 million syndicated senior loan facility provided to Kronospan Ukraine
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a €60
million loan to Kronospan Ukraine, owned by Kronospan Holdings East Limited,
part of the Austrian Kronospan Group, for the installation of a particleboard
production plant in Novovolynsk, north-western Ukraine. €25 million of the
total loan has been syndicated to Erste Bank der Oesterreichischen Sparkassen
AG-.
Kronospan is planning to refurbish an existing factory building and install
two particleboard production lines. After the installation, Kronospan Ukraine
will produce standard and melamine-faced particleboard for use in the
manufacture of household and office furniture as well as kitchen and shop
fittings. Kronospan is also planning to implement a wood residue collection
system at local saw mills, which will encourage a responsible handling of wood
waste.
Olivier Descamps, the EBRD’s Business Group Director for Southern and Eastern
Europe, said the project is going to be one of the most significant
investments in the Ukrainian wood-based panel industry, which needs to grow to
satisfy rapidly increasing demand for furniture and the needs of the
expanding construction sector. It will continue successful cooperation
between the Bank and the Kronospan Group started in countries such as Poland,
Russia, Romania and Slovakia, he added.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the biggest financial
investor in Ukraine. As of October 2006 it had committed over EUR 2.4 billion
through 120 projects.
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