Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 24 / Trend , E.Ismayilov/
The German, Austrian and Dutch banks are willing to finance the construction of a methanol plant in Azerbaijan, a source in the company AZMECO said.
"There is always the need for additional financing and the German, Austrian and Dutch banks have expressed a willingness to finance this project," said the source.
At present the relevant work is being conducted with these banks, he said. The source has not divulged the possible amount of funding.
The construction of the plant began in 2007, and AZMECO's own contribution to this project is $70 million. In addition, the International Bank of Azerbaijan, EDC of Canada and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank are also participating in financing this project, the source said.
He said the company is currently working to attract credit to the amount of $120 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). "Now all work is aimed at obtaining a loan from the EBRD," the source added.
The total cost of the methanol plant's construction is over $300 million.
The EBRD Board of Directors is expected to approve the project on Sept. 22. The EBRD finance will be carried out in two installments: a 90 million USD senior loan for up to 9 years and the remaining 30 million USD as a senior performance-linked loan fully paid in year 10.
The methanol plant, which will be located in the Garadag region, is expected to be put into operation in the third quarter of 2010. Work on the construction of the plant was launched in 2007.
The plant's capacity for methanol production will be 720,000 tons per year at the first stage. The construction of the enterprise which will produce nitrogen fertilizer is planned to be completed in 2011. 400,000 tons of nitrogen fertilizer is planned for production during the second phase.
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