January 3 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) said on Wednesday that it has agreed to lend 35 million euro ($38.3 million) to Bulgaria's Kristera, part of local farming group Agria Group Holding [BUL:AGH], to help finance the construction of a new sunflower oil processing plant in the northern town of Popovo and the purchase of railcars to transport edible oils.
With a total estimated cost of some 75 million euro, the project will optimise Agria Group's sunflower seed production, bolster its access to export markets, generate new jobs and foster sustainability and resilience in rural areas, EIB said in a press release. The project is expected to be operational in the second half of 2027.
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The new crude sunflower oil processing facility will use waste-free, green technology by producing renewable energy from discarded sunflower seed hulls. The initiative also includes the acquisition of railcars for transporting products to Bulgaria’s Black Sea port of Varna, which will cut greenhouse gas emissions from road freight transport.
“We are glad to extend our support for the agricultural sector in Bulgaria with this new agreement with Agria Holding Group aimed at modernising and expanding its operations. It is a project that will boost the country’s regional and economic development in a sustainable manner, financing investment in a less developed EU region, and thus promoting social cohesion and equitable growth,” EIB vice president Kyriacos Kakouris said.
The agreement is backed by the InvestEU programme, an EU infrastructure and innovation funding mechanism that aims to trigger additional investments of over 372 billion euro in the period 2021-2027.
Agria Group Holding specialises in agricultural production, grain and oilseed storage and trade and has subsidiaries in the processing industry, including bioethanol production, as well as three main logistics centres in northeastern Bulgaria.
Shares in Agria Group last traded on Tuesday when they closed at 20.20 levs ($11.32/10.33 euro) on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, bourse data show.
($ = 0.9127 euro)