The French cement manufacturer Lafarge has launched a study of limestone fields which can be utilized for extracting the raw material for cement production in Azerbaijan.
Anar Akhundov, the Executive Director of Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC), informed Trend that the issue is currently being discussed with the Government of Azerbaijan.
Lafarge is interested to speed up the process of getting the estimates for the project up and running for the construction of the cement factory in Azerbaijan. The location of the factory will depend on the selection of the limestone, Mr. Akhundov stressed.
The Government of Azerbaijan, AIC and Lafarge signed a trilateral Memorandum of Intention on investing in cement production in Azerbaijan.
Maximum participation of the project with AIC is 20-25%, and the balance will be guaranteed by Lafarge. Furthermore no State guarantee is provided for the investor's participation
The project budget for the cement plant is $110-120mln with a capacity of 1-1.25mln tons. The location of the plant will depend on the feasibility study.