OREANDA-NEWS. April 25, 2011. Vnesheconombank is to extend a credit to establish a Ford-Sollers Joint Venture for an amount of 39 billion rubles for a period of 10 years at a refinancing rate of plus 2%, the project’s total budget is 75 billion rubles, Vnesheconombank Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev told journalists after Vnesheconombank’s Supervisory Board meeting.

“The funding provides for building several production facilities in three cities – Naberezhnye Chelny, Elabuga, Vsevolzhsk”, said Dmitriev.

He said that the parties’ participation share in the project to establish a Ford-Sollers Joint Venture is 50 to 50. And the property contribution of both parties is 18 billion rubles.

According to Dmitriev, the project’s implementation will result in building production facilities for manufacturing 350 thousand automobiles per year. Mr. Dmitriev also noted that a domestic competence would be created in engine-building.

VEB’s Chairman said that the project’s implementation would result in forming our own scientific-technical base in Tatarstan. He also stressed that in the course of the project’s implementation budgets of various levels would receive about 39 billion rubles and 3 thousand new jobs would be created.

According to him, in the near future Vnesheconombank intends to sign a memorandum with the project’s participants. The memorandum is to specify investment terms. He noted that the project’s details are being thoroughly studied. Dmitriev said that after completing the preparation of documents, “we would submit finalized financial terms of funding this project to Vnesheconombank’s Supervisory Board”.

Dmitriev also said that this credit should be extended at the most favorable interest rate. “Now we are discussing a refinancing rate of plus 2%”, said Vnesheconombank’s Chairman.

It became known in mid February that the Russian automaker and Italian Concern Fiat terminated their negotiations about establishing a joint venture which could have become the second largest player after AvtoVAZ on the Russian car market. The companies signed a memorandum on establishing a joint venture a year ago and at the beginning of July Sollers submitted an application to VEB for arranging a syndicated loan worth 2.1 billion euros to fund the project. Later on, the parties decided that they would implement their long-term strategies individually.

At the same time, Sollers was not left without a partner, on the same day the company announced the establishment of a joint venture in equal shares with Ford to manufacture and distribute Ford cars on the Russian market.