MOSCOW (MRC) -- State Oil company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has signed an agreement with Russia’s Gazprombank on providing a loan facility for construction of SOCAR Polymer polypropylene and high-density polyethylene plants in Azerbaijan, said Azertag.
According to the bank, the document was signed by Andrey Akimov, Chairman of the Board at Gazprombank, and Rovnag Abdullayev, President of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), on June 19, within the framework of the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.
The investment committee of Gazprombank has approved a USD489 loan facility for SOCAR Polymer with 10-year term.
"We focus on long-term strategic partnership with SOCAR Group and consider funding for the SOCAR Polymer project as another stage of cooperation. We expect that this financial deal will enable the bank to participate in financing of other large investment projects implemented by the SOCAR Group. We also plan to involve United Machine-building Plants Holding (UMP), as a member of Gazprombank Group, to this cooperation," Andrey Akimov emphasized.
As MRC informed earlier, within the complex, a gas processing plant and a petrochemicals plant are due to be completed by 2020 instead of 2017, and an oil refinery by 2030 instead of 2026. Industry sources say the new petrochemical complex will allow the country to profit from processing oil rather than just exporting it.
SOCAR, which is keen on expanding operations in the retail oil products market abroad, is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in the domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.
MRC