EBRD extends €116m loan to European chemical giant, Grupa Azoty, towards going green
Adesola Afolabi was a businessamlive reporter and Head of Financial desk.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has extended a €116 million long-term senior loan to Poland’s Grupa Azoty, a leading producer of chemicals on the Polish and European markets, to help green their operations.
According to the bank, the funds will finance investments towards a significant reduction of CO2 emissions at the company’s plants, as well as efficiency improvements and an expansion of research and development activities towards higher value products.
The green investment programme financed with the EBRD loan is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 130,000 tonnes of CO2e each year.
The EBRD loan will be part of a massive investment programme for which an additional €350 million and €145 million were raised from other lenders earlier this year, the bank said.
Grupa Azoty is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of approximately PLN 4.6 billion or €1.1 billion.
The main shareholders are the Polish state treasury (33 percent), the fertiliser group, Acron (19.47 percent) and various investment and pension funds.
The EBRD has a stake of 2.87 percent and provided the group with a PLN 150 million loan in 2015.