OREANDA-NEWS. April 30, 2010. State Corporation ‘Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)’ and the Air Gates of the Northern Capital (LLC) entered into a Credit Agreement in Saint-Petersburg in the presence of Saint-Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko for an amount of 10 billion rubles to finance the Pulkove airport construction project. The credit resources in rubles will be made available for a period of 15 years.

The project is to be financed jointly with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Eurasian Development Bank, the Northern Investment Bank, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank. They are to provide credit resources in foreign exchange in the amount of about 500 million euros. For the first time in Russia, a syndicate of banks and international institutions arranged for financing a project of such magnitude and complexity on the basis of project financing.

Vnesheconombank’s participation in this project is not only to finance it but also to raise long-term foreign investments for the project.

The project is to be implemented with the use of public – private partnership mechanism under the Agreement on Creating, Reconstructing and Operating Pulkovo Airport Facilities concluded between the Saint-Petersburg Government and OJSC the Pulkovo Airport and the Air Gates Northern Capital (LLC). The implementation of the first stage of the project provides for building the airport’s new terminal and reconstructing Terminal–1.

Vnesheconombank’s participation in the project aimed at creating, reconstructing and operating Pulkovo airport facilities was approved by the Bank’s Supervisory Board in April of 2009.

Air Gates of the Northern Capital (LLC) is a consortium comprised of the VTB Group, German Company Fraport AG and Greek Copelouzos Group, which won the tender held by the Government of Saint-Petersburg for granting a thirty-year concession to create, reconstruct and operate Pulkovo airport facilities.