VEB.RF and Gazprombank to Provide Financing for Research Reactor Construction
VEB.RF, Gazprombank and the International Research Center based on the MBIR reactor (IRC MBIR) (part of ROSATOM) have agreed on the terms and conditions of financing for the project to construct a multipurpose research reactor (MBIR).
The project totalling almost 80 billion roubles is aimed at building a unique research facility with a fourth-generation fast-neutron reactor at Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Region. The MBIR reactor is designed to help Russia to preserve and develop its nuclear research capability. The research reactor will be used to create and test new materials and nuclear technologies. IRC MBIR will be contracted by Russian and international companies to carry out irradiation experiments and post-irradiation tests.
VEB.RF and Gazprombank will provide a total of over 20 billion roubles in project financing under the Project Financing Factory programme. In addition to debt financing, the MBIR project is to use equity financing. The transaction has already received approval from the Supervisory Board of VEB.RF.
“Nuclear power is an excellent example of high-technology industries where the Russian Federation can definitely be viewed as a world leader. The Project Financing Factory mechanism using long-term syndicated lending is ideally suited for such large-scale and capital-intensive initiatives,” VEB.RF’s Deputy Chairman Daniil Algulyan said.
“We will help to build a facility that is of not only scientific but also strategic importance for the country. I am confident that by financing the large-scale high-technology project, we help Russian science as a whole to increase its potential. Additionally, this transaction will allow us to raise to a new level our significant cooperation with VEB.RF and ROSATOM,” Gazprombank’s Executive Vice President Alexander Ushkov said.
“Signing the financing agreement for the project to construct the research facility with a multipurpose fast-neutron reactor is consistent with ROSATOM’s strategy to create the International Research Center based on the MBIR reactor. An important aspect is that ROSATOM’s largest scientific project is attractive to investors such as these leading Russian banks,” IRC MBIR’s CEO Sergey Pastukhov commented.
Launched under the federal targeted programme New Generation of Nuclear Power Technologies for 2010–2015 with Long-Term Plans Until 2020, the MBIR project is designed to renew ROSATOM’s research reactors and aimed at helping Russia to continue to be a leader in nuclear research.
First Tranche Paid by VEB.RF to Finance LNG Carrier Construction at Zvezda
VEB.RF has paid the first tranche to the Zvezda shipyard to finance the construction of the pilot LNG carrier under the Arctic LNG 2 project.
The gas tanker (ice class Arc7) is designed to transport LNG on a year-round basis in the ice-bound conditions of the Kara Sea and the Gulf of Ob. The ship has the ice-breaking capability to navigate in ice with a thickness of more than 2 metres.
The LNG carrier is to be leased to Sovcomflot. NOVATEK has already signed a long-term contract with Sovcomflot to charter the ship under the Arctic LNG 2 project.
Overall, financing for 15 gas tankers received approval from the Supervisory Board of VEB.RF. They will be supplied when Arctic LNG 2 begins operation.
The shipyard’s larger business portfolio will provide the basis for implementing the presidential decree aiming to create a cluster of shipbuilders in the Russian Far East, increase the local content of Russian-made products, build medium- and large-sized vessels, and manufacture marine equipment in order to promote the Northern Sea Route and develop Arctic hydrocarbon deposits.
“The first tranche paid for the pilot LNG carrier is 66 million US dollars, or an amount equivalent to about 4.2 billion roubles. This year, VEB.RF has already disbursed an amount equivalent to over 9 billion roubles in total to finance the construction of four tankers at the Zvezda shipyard. Support for Russian shipbuilding is a strategic area of VEB.RF’s activities. Financing for the construction of tankers at Zvezda is a substantial contribution to promoting high-tech production and increasing the local content of Russian-made products in the Far East,” VEB.RF’s Deputy Chairman Artyom Dovlatov commented.