BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.3
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering the provision of a syndicated loan of up to $229.4 million to finance the Almaty International Airport expansion project, Trend reports citing EBRD.
The funding will be used for the capital expenditure program of Almaty International Airport (ALA), including the construction of a new passenger terminal and the refinancing of the acquisition of ALA and the associated fuel business entity Venus Trading LLP (VT) by a consortium of investors led by TAV Airports.
The loan will consist of an A loan of up to $150 million for the Bank's own account, and a B loan of up to $79.4 million, which will be syndicated to commercial banks.
The Project aims to expand the airport infrastructure and improve service levels at the Almaty International Airport complex. In terms of passenger numbers, ALA is the biggest airport in Kazakhstan (served 6.4 million passengers in 2019), yet does not meet international airport infrastructure standards.
With the construction of a new international terminal, the modernization of the domestic terminal, and the adoption of IATA's Optimum Level of Service standards, the airport will be able to provide better quality aeronautical services and expand its commercial space to offer a wider scope of non-aeronautical services.
The involvement of TAV Airports, a global and experienced airport operator, will improve the connectivity, service quality and will help develop ALA's potential as a major regional transit hub.
This Project will be the first large-scale foreign direct investment (FDI) in the airport infrastructure sector in Kazakhstan and the largest across the Central Asia region.
On May 8, 2020, Turkey’s TAV Airports signed a share purchase agreement to buy Kazakhstan’s Almaty International Airport.
The negotiations were announced in Nov. 2019 as the consortium formed by Turkish TAV Airports (of which Groupe ADP owns 46.1 percent of the capital) and VPE Capital operating in Kazakhstan and Russia, started discussions with the owner of Kazakhstan’s Almaty International Airport regarding the airport’s potential acquisition.
The plans of Turkey’s TAV Airports for the development of the Almaty International Airport were discussed during the meeting of Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration Bakhyt Sultanov with representatives of TAV Group and Kazakhstan Infrastructure Fund C.V.
To date, the EBRD has invested over €8.63 billion through 273 projects in the economy of Kazakhstan.
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