December 13 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Wednesday it is providing a 15 million euro ($15.9 million) loan to Slovenian building materials producer Salonit Anhovo (Salonit) to improve its operations.
The funds will be used for energy and resource efficiency improvements and to restructure the company’s balance sheet, the lender said in a statement.
The planned investment will also move Salonit to within the top 1% of the EU cement industry in terms of production efficiency and low carbon intensity.
Salonit is a leading, vertically integrated producer of building materials, producing aggregates, clinker, cement and concrete. The company’s facility is the largest in Slovenia and alternative fuels currently account for 64 per cent of all the fuels the firm uses for burning clinker.
The EBRD loan will be invested to increase this ratio further to improve the company’s profitability and reduce CO2 emissions. A precondition for increasing the ratio of alternative fuels is the installation of state-of-the-art equipment. The investment will also have a beneficial effect on operational costs, which are expected to decline thanks to the adjusted fuel ratios.
"For Salonit Anhovo, qualifying for an EBRD loan is an important confirmation that we are implementing the right strategy and have achieved a high level of performance among Europe’s best producers. The loan will significantly strengthen our competitive position in the regionр" Julijan Fortunat, president of the company's management board, is quoted in the press release as saying.
The EBRD has been active in Slovenia since 1991 and has invested in all sectors of the economy. Since the beginning of its operations, the bank has invested some 930 million euro in 75 projects in the country. The latest EBRD country strategy, adopted by the Board of Directors in February 2014, sets corporate restructuring, stabilisation of the financial sector and support for sustainable energy as the Bank’s priorities in Slovenia.
($=0.9424 euro)