VEB.RF Issues Surety Bonds Worth RUB10bn Each to Promsvyazbank and Otkritie Bank
Overall, VEB.RF has plans to issue surety bonds totalling 100 billion roubles to systemically important banks and SME Bank. The surety bonds are intended to secure the zero-interest loans given to small and medium-sized enterprises to finance their salary payments.
“As part of the Russian Government’s prompt measures to provide support for small businesses, VEB.RF issued surety bonds worth 10 billion each to Promsvyazbank and Otkritie Bank. The commercial banks are our reliable partners, and we have joined forces once again to support small enterprises. The surety bonds are intended to secure the zero-interest loans taken out by businesses for their salary payments. Overall, VEB.RF has plans to issue surety bonds totalling 100 billion roubles,” VEB.RF Chairman Igor Shuvalov said.
VEB.RF had previously issued surety bonds worth 20 billion roubles each to Sberbank and VTB to guarantee loans to small businesses.
Bank Syndicate Begins to Provide Financing for RT-Invest’s Largest Energy-from-Waste Project Near Moscow
The syndicate of banks, with VEB.RF’s commitment of 50%, has provided the first tranche to AGC-1, a special purpose entity of RT-Invest, under the Energy from Waste large-scale investment project. The RUB110bn syndicated loan agreement for the period until 2035 was signed in February 2020.
The project involves building four energy-from-waste plants for municipal solid waste (MSW) in the Moscow Region. The plants will be built in the Voskresensk, Solnechnogorsk, Naro-Fominsk and Bogorodsky municipalities.
The project is consistent with a waste treatment hierarchy and the principles of circularity with the following priorities: separate collection, sorting and processing of recyclable materials; generation of energy from waste. This represents a major step forward in building up an integrated waste management system in Russia.
“This is the first tranche of the syndicated loan. VEB.RF’s funding will be used to pay for equipment. Energy from Waste is the largest project under the Environmental Protection national project. VEB.RF carries out a comprehensive programme to build energy-from-waste plants in the regions. The plants in the Moscow Region are a pilot project that will be followed by a whole range of similar projects. The construction of energy-from-waste facilities is well under way, and they will handle a quarter of waste generated by Moscow and the Moscow Region every year,” VEB.RF’s First Deputy Chairman and Member of the Board Nikolay Tsekhomsky said.
According to RT-Invest’s CEO Andrei Shipelov, the goals of zero dumping cannot be achieved without an integrated approach. RT-Invest is Russia’s only group of companies whose business encompasses all stages of MSW management. Its particular focus is on the construction of sorting facilities and on recycling technology. For instance, RT-Invest will put into operation an additional three modern waste treatment plants in the Moscow Region and complete design work on bottom-ash handling technology by the end of this year.
“The projects in the Moscow Region and Tatarstan are currently a showcase for us building the necessary MSW management infrastructure. The energy-from-waste plants are the final link in the chain of residual waste treatment after the necessary sorting and processing of all recyclables,” Andrei Shipelov added.
It is intended that the four energy-from-waste plants will start to process up to 2.8 million tonnes of waste and generate up to 2.2 billion kWh of electricity per year in the Moscow Region in 2022. Their construction uses Hitachi Zosen Inova technology from a global leader in energy from waste.