Uzbekistan, Tashkent, April 2 / Trend D. Azizov /
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted a loan worth $100 million and a political risk guarantee worth $200 million to implement a project to develop natural gas fields in southwestern Uzbekistan, the ADB said on Monday.
The ADB loan was allocated from ordinary capital resources with a maximum term of 8 years and a grace period of 18 months (interest rate to be specified).
According to the information, the Islamic Development Bank will also allocate $100 million for financing and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) will allocate a political risk guarantee of $100 million.
The deal is the ADB's first commercial loan in the Uzbek gas industry.
LUKOIL Overseas Uzbekistan has signed an agreement with a consortium of banks to attract a loan worth up to $500 million to implement the Kandym-Khauzak-Shady-Kungrad project in Uzbekistan. It is being implemented under the production sharing agreement (PSA).
The consortium includes the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Credit Agricole CIB, BNP Paribas (Suisse) SA and the Korea Development Bank (CDB).
The loan will be used to finance the investment program to develop
Kandym and increase production in Khauzak-Shady.
The political risk guarantee is delivered in close cooperation with MIGA and the private market. It will cover loans from commercial lenders.
The field development with proven reserves of 84 billion cubic meters will begin in 2015. Gas will be sold to Russian exporters, and possibly China, a statement said.
Kandym consists of six gas condensate fields. Its recoverable reserves hit 330 billion cubic meters, and the planned level of production is 11 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
The PSA was signed in 2004.