OREANDA-NEWS. May 07, 2008. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a \\$20 million loan to Agri-industrial holding Astarta, Ukraine?s leading agribusiness operator and sugar producer listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

The loan will enable the Agri-industrial holding Astarta to purchase and put into operation equipment to achieve higher energy efficiency at its sugar production plants as well as in sugar beet farming operations.

Sugar production is an energy intensive activity and the EBRD finance will allow Agri-industrial holding Astarta to introduce significant improvements at each of its five sugar plants. This should result in considerable energy savings estimated at 20-30 per cent of the current energy consumption, mainly natural gas, per tonne of produced sugar. Productivity increases and cost reductions will bring the holding’s operating performance closer to EU standards.

In order to assess energy saving project opportunities, the EBRD commissioned an energy audit conducted within the Energy Audit Programme funded by the Central European Initiative (an intergovernmental organisation for political, economic and cultural co-operation among its 18 member states in Central and Eastern Europe; http://www.ceinet.org). The study found potential for the reduction of Agri-industrial holding Astarta?s carbon emissions by 300,000 tonnes of CO2 by 2012. The company is currently discussing a potential sale of carbon credits under the Kyoto protocol with the EBRD-EIB Multilateral Carbon Credits Fund. This could become the first carbon credit transaction for the EBRD in the Ukrainian agribusiness sector.

Kamen Zahariev, EBRD Country Director, Ukraine, said, “The introduction of energy saving equipment and new cultivation and sugar beet processing methods will bring new standards and practices to the still inefficient production of sugar in Ukraine.”

Victor Ivanchyk, CEO of Astarta Holding N.V., added: “For Astarta, the development of its business means not only the expansion of production capacities and arable land but also their efficient utilization. The EBRD loan will enable us to achieve optimal production results and improved energy efficiency.”

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the biggest financial investor in Ukraine. As of April 2008, it had committed over ?3,3 billion through almost 170 projects. In the agribusiness sector, the EBRD has directly committed more than ?4.2 billion in over 310 projects across central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.