OREANDA-NEWS. August 28, 2007. The bank consortium consisting of DnB NORD Banka (consortium leader), Nordea Finland Plc Latvian branch and Unicredit Banka signed the agreement with AS "BALTIC COAL TERMINAL" on granting of loan in amount of EUR 53,6 million for construction and equipment of coal transshipment terminal as well as construction and equipment of a private landing, reported the press-centre of AS DnB NORD Banka.

The "BALTIC COAL TERMINAL" building project provides construction of a modern and ecologically safe terminal within the territory of Ventspils port using closed-end coal transshipment technology and thus excluding any negative impact on environment in the housing area of Ventspils city.  

Environmental security guarantee was one of the priorities prior to choosing the coal transshipment technology and developing a special terminal construction design. The new coal transshipment technology in Ventspils port will comply with all requirements stipulated by the EU and international conventions in the field of environmental protection.  Commissioning of the terminal is scheduled for H1 of 2008.

The expected aggregation of investments for the first construction stage of the "BALTIC COAL TERMINAL" amounts to EUR 75 million, consisting of both private investments and the bank loan. Already in February 2007 the bank consortium disbursed to "BALTIC COAL TERMINAL" intermediate funding in amount of EUR 10 million, and construction of the terminal was commenced.

The Relationship Manager of DnB NORD Banka Corporate Banking Department Viktors Sersnovs tells: "Although the banks in Latvia are still accumulating the experience in funding of big-scale projects I am satisfied that this transaction is already concluded following all international standards in project financing. It is expected that the activities of the "BALTIC COAL TERMINAL" will positively affect the economic development of Latvia, and, besides, it should be emphasized that the terminal will operate on environment-friendly technologies only."

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of AS "BALTIC COAL TERMINAL" Ilja Sokolovs: "Our objective is to generate a modern, specialized coal terminal in Ventspils port that would be able to accept, hold and ship the coal from Russia to the Western Europe and the USA. The signed agreement clearly shows that we move in the right direction."
 
About the company
A/s "BALTIC COAL TERMINAL" was duly incorporated in January 2005; its promoters are AS "VENTSPILS TIRDZNIECIBAS OSTA" and SIA "Indtec Baltic Coal" (subsidiary of the business company "Indtec Finanse B.V." (Holland), owner and investor of Russian coal producer, mine "Zarechnaya" of Kuznetsk Basin). 

The main objective of the "BALTIC COAL TERMINAL" is designing, construction and utilization of a specialized coal terminal within the territory of Ventspils free port to accept, store and ship the coals from Russia to the markets of Western Europe and the USA.

Designing of the terminal was assigned to Latvian company "Interjeru iekartosanas un restauracijas firma "Ierosme"". Supplier of machinery that was chosen subject to an open international tender is the German company "Fam Magdeburger Foerderanlangen und Baumaschinen GmbH". The principal contractor of the coal terminal is AS "VENTSPILS TIRDZNIECIBAS OSTA-G" that has implemented construction of several terminals within the territory of Ventspils Free Port.