SKOPJE (North Macedonia), July 3 (SeeNews) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Wednesday it is lending 5 million euro ($5.6 million) to North Macedonia-based metal fabricated parts maker Aktiva to support its expansion into supplying international companies.
“The EBRD loan will be used to complete Aktiva’s 10 million euro investment programme in upgrading production and coating capacity, including the installation of a new KTL (electro) coating line,” the bank said in a press release.
The loan will support the company in becoming one of the leading regional “one-stop shop” metal engineering and processing companies, the EBRD said, adding that the project aims to help the company grow its metal processing segment and increase the export share of this business segment.
Founded in 1999, Aktiva provides metal fabrication services, as well as engineering, supervision and construction services for steel construction facilities. Since entering the metal fabricated parts market in 2014, in cooperation with the Belgian bus producer Van Hool - one of the biggest foreign direct investors in North Macedonia - Aktiva has also started producing metal fabricated products for other international companies including Fast and ThyssenKrupp.
To date, the EBRD has invested nearly 1.9 billion euro in 117 projects in North Macedonia, with a focus on supporting the country's integration into regional and global markets.
($ = 0.8855 euro)