Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend I.Khalilova / The US Nexant Company presented to the Azerbaijan Investment Company JSC the concluding report on the amount investments for the construction of a new oil terminal and port in the Garadagh district of Azerbaijan. According to the report, the cost of the terminal had increased to $150mln, AIC Executive Director, Anar Akhundov said on 27 August. The previous cost of the project was AZN $90 mln.
"The cost of the project has increased due to the strengthening of the terminal's capacity," Akhundov said. According to the initial statements, in the first stage the capacity of the terminal totaled 12 mln tons (10mln tons of oil and 2mln tons of condensate) with further increases up to 40mln tons.
He refused to disclose the current capacity of the terminal because this week AIC will begin talks with Azersun Holding (main operator in the project "Kafgaztransservice" founded by Azersun Holding) to define the strategy of attracting investors.
According to him, a shortlist of the financial institutions which are interested in the project has already been formed and talks will begin with them from next week. "Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is interested in considering the possibilities of joining the project of financing the terminal," Akhundov said. In addition, the list includes Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and private investment banks.
The project aims to construct a new oil terminal and port in the Garadagh district of Azerbaijan to receive raw oil from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan for further transportation to terminals in the Black Sea and Port of Ceyhan via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
According to a decision of the Supervisory Board of the AIC, $9 mln will be allocated to the company.
According to an agreement signed between AIC and "Kafgaztransservice" (founded by Azersun Holding), the company will hold nearly 25% of shares in the authorized capital of 'Oil and Gas Terminal of Sangachal-Garadagh' JSC.