Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Uzbekistan attracted $2.3-billion financing for the construction of a plant in the Kashkadarya region for the production of synthetic fuel using gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology, Trend reports on Dec. 17 referring to Uzbek media.
The relevant financial documents were signed on Dec. 15 in Tashkent by the project company Uzbekistan GTL, Uzbekneftegaz JSC and 11 international financial institutions, organizations and commercial banks from China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and Europe.
The event was attended by representatives of the China Development Bank (CDB), the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation K-Sure, Gazprombank, the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR), Credit Suisse Bank, and Japanese banks MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $3.6 billion, of which, according to documents, China will allocate over $1 billion, South Korea - $600 million, the remaining nine lenders - about $700 million in total, the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan - $740 million, own funds of Uzbekneftegaz - $570 million.
The plant is expected to be commissioned in 2020 and will provide annual import substitution of petroleum products in the amount of up to 1.5 million tons worth over $1 billion.
The plant will process 3.6 billion cubic meters of gas and produce 1.5 million tons of synthetic liquid fuel of the Euro-5 standard, including 311,000 tons of jet fuel, 743,000 tons of diesel fuel, 431,000 tons of naphtha and 53,000 tons of liquefied gas.
General contractors of the plant are Hyundai Engineering (South Korea), Hyundai Engineering and Construction and Enter Engineering (Singapore). The plant is being built according to the technology of licensors Sasol (South Africa), Haldor Topsoe (Denmark) and Chevron (USA).
The overall process of implementing the EPC contract is currently up to 65 percent. Construction work has been completed by 23 percent.
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