Uzbekistan’s leading miner Almalyk Mining and Metallurgi-cal Plant has signed a loan agreement with Russian bank VEB.RF to acquire some €712 million. The funds will allow the Uzbek company to finance its planned investment in building a new copper processing plant.
“The funds will be used to pay for Russian equipment and services within the framework of the project, as well as to pay a part of the costs associated with the implementation of the project in the Repub-lic of Uzbekistan,” the miner said in a statement.
Abdulla Hursanov, the chairman of the board of Almalyk, commented that the forthcoming investment is the largest project to be carried out in Uzbekistan with the use of a loan from VEB.RF. He also said that the loan was provided to his company “on preferential terms without government guarantees”.