Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Deutsche Bank, Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (Helaba) will participate in financing an investment project to expand the production capacity of the Shurtan gas chemical complex of Uzbekneftegaz, without a government guarantee.

On 30 September 2021, Uzbekneftegaz, a leading oil and gas company in Uzbekistan supervised by the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, announces that important agreements have been signed at the economic forum “Uzbekistan: Achievements of Economic Reforms and Their Prospects”, which is currently taking place in Tashkent. on financial cooperation with three leading banks in Europe.

The cooperation agreements stipulate the financing of an investment project to expand the production capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex (“Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex Expansion Project”) in the amount of 1.1 billion euros. Agreements were signed with Deutsche Bank - for the amount of 500 million euros, with Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg - 300 million euros, and with Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (Helaba) - also for 300 million euros.

Taking into account that the expansion project of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex is financed on the basis of export financing, without state guarantees, the participation of prestigious European banks is an indicative confirmation of the investment attractiveness of Uzbekistan.

The total cost of the project is about US$1.8 billion, of which US$1.2 billion will be contributed by a consortium of foreign banks and financial institutions, and US$600 million - by Uzbekneftegaz.

Alisher Sultanov, Minister of Energy of Uzbekistan, noted: “Today’s announcement is another example of the involvement of large international capital being attracted to Uzbekistan to finance our significant energy reforms. We have set ourselves ambitious energy goals and are gradually implementing a comprehensive strategy to achieve them, and of course, attracting a significant amount of foreign investment is one of the best indicators of our progress. We thank our European partners for their significant support. "

Mehriddin Abdullayev, Chairman of the Management Board of Uzbekneftegaz JSC, said: “The expansion of the production capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex, the flagship of the gas chemical industry in Uzbekistan and a key polymer producer in the region, is another step towards achieving our goal of increasing the volume of deep processing of hydrocarbons for the production of petrochemical products with high added value. We are extremely grateful for the financial support and trust shown by a number of the most famous banks in Europe. This is a significant confirmation of the progress of Uzbekistan and the role of Uzbekneftegaz in this.”

The funds will be raised within the insurance coverage of Euler Hermes (Germany) and other European export credit agencies.

At the economic forum, another agreement was signed between Uzbekneftegaz and the international law firm White & Case LLP, headquartered in New York, which has many years of successful experience in advising in Uzbekistan on investment projects and project financing.

Expansion of the production capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex will envisage the production of an additional 280 thousand tons of bimodal polyethylene, 100 thousand tons of polypropylene and 50 thousand tons of pyrolysis distillate per year. The raw material base for the projected expansion facilities of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex is synthetic naphtha, which will be produced at the synthetic liquid fuel (GTL) plant.