VEB.RF Deputy Chairman Cesare Ragaglini spoke today at the OECD Forum on Green Finance and Investment, the annual flagship event for the global sustainable finance and investment community. Scheduled for 6–9 October and chaired by OECD Secretary-General Ángel Gurría, the online forum brings together prominent politicians, experts and businesspeople from around the world.
Cesare Ragaglini told the forum about the current status of the green finance market in Russia and described VEB.RF’s contribution towards its development. “Climate change is a problem that is global in nature and that cannot be resolved at national level,” he said. “Such a problem requires cooperation among all countries.”
Cesare Ragaglini spoke about VEB.RF’s efforts to draw up recommended guidelines on green financing and create a national taxonomy based on international best practices. “Today we live in an environment where there is no single definition of a green project. This causes uncertainty for investors and act as the main drag on the development of the green finance market,” he said. “To be recognised by the international community, the Russian taxonomy needs to be aligned with standards of the European Union, China, CBI, ICMA and others.”
The first debt instrument, namely Russian Railways perpetual bonds totalling 1.1 billion euros, was certified to the new Russian green standards the previous week, the speaker mentioned to the audience. The bonds were verified by an independent company as compliant with both the VEB.RF guidelines and the ICMA methodology. “Climate protection is our common goal. Financing for projects aimed at environmental improvement and the fight against climate change, along with the issuance of related green bonds, should not be subject to any restrictions,” Cesare Ragaglini said in conclusion.
VEB.RF Provides Financing to Pay for Equipment for World’s Largest Gas-to-Chemicals Facility at Ust-Luga
VEB.RF has continued to finance the construction of the world’s largest gas-to-chemicals facility under the Ust-Luga ethane-containing gas processing project. The new tranches are intended to pay for long-lead equipment. The gas-to-chemicals project operator is Baltic Chemical Complex, a subsidiary of RusGazDobycha.
VEB.RF participates in financing the project as instructed by the Russian Government. VEB.RF’s Supervisory Board approved transactions to finance the initial stage of the project, including loans to RusKhimAlyans and Baltic Chemical Complex. VEB.RF disburses funds in accordance with the approved project schedule.
Tranches are paid as the project milestones are met. VEB.RF is involved in the initial phase of the project, seeking funding from Russian and foreign lenders.
“Preparations are well under way to arrange project financing for the large-scale ethane-containing gas processing project at the village of Ust-Luga. Prepayments were made for the supply of equipment to the gas-to-chemicals facility, and a loan agreement was signed with RusKhimAlyans in August to finance the initial stage of the construction project. When completed, the project will have a significant socio-economic impact across the country. It is intended that the project will create 5,000 permanent jobs, giving impetus to the development of more advanced chemical production stages,” VEB.RF Chairman Igor Shuvalov said.
The project initiators are Gazprom and RusGazDobycha.
The project involves building integrated gas processing and gas-to-chemicals facilities designed for the high value-added processing of multi-component natural gas at the village of Ust-Luga, Kingisepp District, Leningrad Region.
The gas processing facility consists of integrated gas processing and liquefied natural gas plants. The project operator is RusKhimAlyans, a joint venture between Gazprom and RusGazDobycha.
The gas-to-chemicals facility includes pyrolysis and polymerisation plants. The project operator is Baltic Chemical Complex, a subsidiary of RusGazDobycha.
This is the largest project to process gas in Russia and produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) in North-western Europe. Apart from LNG, the project will also produce dry stripped gas, ethane fraction, liquefied hydrocarbon gases and pentane-hexane fraction. Ethane resulting from fractionation at the gas processing facility is to be converted by the gas-to-chemicals facility into higher value-added products, such as up to 3 million tonnes of various polyethylene grades.