Baimskoye Copper Deposit Project to Receive Over RUB1tn in Financing from VEB.RF and Its Partners
The mining and processing plant will be the first in Russia to use UAV systems and IoT devices. The project will help to create about 6,000 jobs and generate over 3 trillion roubles in tax revenues at different levels. This was stated by VEB.RF Chairman Igor Shuvalov while accompanying Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko on a visit to Baimsky GOK.
Discovered in 1972, the deposit remained undeveloped for decades due to the harsh climate and lack of infrastructure and technology. A landing area, a fuel storage depot, Bilibino-Peschanka high-voltage lines with a substation, a camp for 1,250 of a planned 5,000 fly-in fly-out workers, and a logistics centre in Bilibino have already been built and put into operation.
Baimsky GOK will become the first in the Russian copper industry to employ the direct flotation process for ore concentration. Useful for low-grade ores, direct flotation can reduce tailings and consumed water and energy, which makes mineral processing more efficient, environmentally friendlier, and safer.
Dmitry Grigorenko, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff of the Government Executive Office, and Chairman of the Supervisory Board, VEB.RF: “Baimsky GOK is a complex and extremely capital-intensive project. Its implementation is complicated by objective factors, such as a complete lack of infrastructure, the polar climate, and a great distance fr om industrial centres. That is why the consistent participation of the government is indispensable for completing the project. VEB.RF has a key role in providing financing for the project. This is an example of how the private sector and the government jointly meet the strategic objectives and achieve good results even wh ere it seemed impossible in the past.”
Igor Shuvalov, Chairman, VEB.RF: “The scope and effects of the Baimsky GOK project are unique. It is the largest project that involves VEB.RF and commercial banks under the Project Financing Factory programme. Government support mechanisms, along with the competencies of VEB.RF and partner banks, expand access to credit facilities, make it possible to borrow for a longer term and enable project participants to share risks.”
The company continues to build large infrastructure facilities outside the deposit in Chukotka: a year-round port on Chaun Bay; an all-weather road; a 330 kV high-voltage line with a length of more than 400 kilometres from the port to the deposit through the town of Bilibino. According to the participants in the visit, apart from ensuring the efficient implementation of the Baimsky GOK project, the new infrastructure will also help the whole of the north-east of Russia to boost its investment potential and create new growth points in the regional economy.
Georgy Fotin, CEO, Baimskaya Management Company: “From the design phase, we have moved forward to real construction work. Investment will exceed 1.1 trillion roubles, including over 290 billion spent. We find it important that the federal institutions and authorities providing us with support should see us working at a fast pace despite the harsh conditions of the Far North. For instance, support from VEB.RF is not just funding, but trust in our strategy, the professionalism of the team, and the long-term potential of the project. More than just a mining and processing plant, our project is a powerful and technologically advanced industrial facility that will strengthen Russia’s position in the world market and create new growth points in the Arctic economy.”
The project will allow Russia to increase copper production by 25 per cent and gold by 4 per cent, thus boosting its export potential and industrial independence. This will increase annual cargo turnover through the Northern Sea Route by 2 million tonnes, which will enhance its importance as an international transport corridor.
The Baimskoye copper deposit project was inaugurated by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Eastern Economic Forum in 2018. The project is included in the Socio-economic Development Strategy for the Far East and the Baikal Region for the Period Until 2025 and in the Socio-economic Development Strategy for the Chukotka Autonomous District Until 2030.
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Igor Shuvalov: About RUB1tn Invested by VEB.RF in Projects to Develop Infrastructure for Living
VEB.RF has invested about 1 trillion roubles for the last five years in urban economy projects worth a total of 2.4 trillion roubles, VEB.RF Chairman Igor Shuvalov told journalists following the State Council meeting chaired by Vladimir Putin about measures to develop infrastructure for living.
According to Igor Shuvalov, VEB.RF’s portfolio includes urban development projects that cover 97 cities. “VEB.RF continues to finance projects related to tourism infrastructure and airports; the modernisation of urban electric transport in Saratov and Nizhni Novgorod is under way. Currently, 229 new trams are already in operation in different cities,” he said.
As stated by Igor Shuvalov, in addition to replacing old tramcars, the programme to modernise urban electric transport includes improving urban areas, renewing tramway tracks, putting up new tram stops, installing new lighting systems, landscaping local sites, and more.
According to him, the total value of the programme is 227.8 billion roubles, with VEB.RF’s commitment of 17.8 billion roubles. Almost 8 million people will see a change for the better in Kursk, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Saratov, Perm, Yaroslavl, Lipetsk, Nizhni Novgorod and Krasnodar.
Additionally, support from VEB.RF has already resulted in helping to modernise 12 airports serving 110 million passengers per year across the country. Total investment is 376 billion roubles, with VEB.RF’s commitment of 148 billion roubles.
For example, created with financial support from VEB.RF, the new terminal in Kamchatka began handling regular passenger flights in April. The first customers were passengers of Aeroflot flights from Moscow, and passengers of Kamchatka Airlines flights to Magadan. According to Igor Shuvalov, VEB.RF’s new strategy includes building and modernising a further 11 airports across the country by 2030.
VEB.RF also participated in financing the preparation of master plans for urban development in more than 25 cities. An example is different investment and infrastructure projects in the Arkhangelsk agglomeration. For instance, the investment projects cover such areas as logistics, shipbuilding and ship repair, and the woodworking and timber industries. The master plan proposes 25 projects for the development of Arctic tourism and 162 projects in housing construction. In terms of new infrastructure, the master plan includes the creation of 59 utility and environmental infrastructure facilities, 40 transport infrastructure facilities (streets and roads), 39 recreational and leisure infrastructure facilities, 89 educational and research facilities, 22 facilities designed for integrated security.
VEB.RF also provides financing for projects to renew public utility systems and other facilities in several Russian cities for a total of approximately 102 billion roubles, with VEB.RF’s approved commitment of 31.9 billion roubles.
“Currently, 10 regional projects receive financing to modernise public utility infrastructure and street lighting. For example, VEB.RF provided initial financing in 2023 for the modernisation of the Lipetsk water utility. To carry out a large-scale investment programme without raising tariffs for customers, we used several tools provided by the Russian Government for infrastructural projects,” Igor Shuvalov said.
On completion, the project will reduce water network losses and network failures by 30 per cent and will almost double the share of safe drinking water, according to Igor Shuvalov. The project will also provide the city with approximately 500,000 square metres of new housing.
Additionally, VEB.RF provides financing for the creation of a treatment and neutralisation facility for municipal solid waste in the Kemerovo Region, for the creation of an all-season resort in the Perm Territory, and for the construction of hotel complexes in Olginka, Tuapse District, in Baikalsk, Irkutsk Region, in Goryachinsk, Republic of Buryatia, in Zavidovo, Tver Region, and in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region.
“Infrastructure for living is a driver of economic growth across the country. We focus our efforts in this area not only on investment goals, but also on the impact of our projects on the improved quality of life of people, real-life families. We at VEB.RF firmly believe that together with local residents, federal, regional and municipal authorities, and business partners, we will be able to give Russian cities a new quality for self-actualisation and a comfortable life,” Igor Shuvalov said.
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