EBRD mulls up to 35 mln euro decarbonisation loan to Bulgaria's Stomana Industry

The proposed senior secured loan, with a tenor of up to seven years, would come in two tranches, namely a committed 25 million euro first tranche, with a further 10 million to be offered at the bank's sole discretion, EBRD said in a project document on Friday.

The total project cost is 57.3 million euro, according to the document.

Stomana Industry, a Pernik-based steel mill, part of Belgium-based corporation Viohalco, will use the loan to finance its decarbonisation strategy, in the areas of energy and water efficiency, quality and cost optimisation measures as well as to rid itself of production bottlenecks. Production equipment and related infrastructure are to be modernised to lower energy consumption, while improvements to the plant's water sourcing, treatment and recirculation infrastructure are also planned.

Stomana Industry will deploy some of the funds for the construction of a 10 MW solar PV array at its production site, the document also showed.

Founded in 1953, Stomana Industry manufactures flat and long steel products, and promotes the circular economy by exclusively using recycled ferrous scrap for the production of hot rolled plates. Stomana Industry is part of Sidenor Group, the steel production, processing and trading arm of Greece-founded Viohalco.

($ = 0.9296 euro)