OREANDA-NEWS  On 11 November was announced, that Mr. Roman Solodchenko, BTA Bank’s Chairman of the Management Board and Chairman and President of the EXIM Bank of China Mr. Li Ruogu signed in Astana a credit agreement to finance the construction of a cement plant in the South Kazakhstan region. The agreement was signed during the official visit of China’s Prime Minister, Mr. Wen Jiabao, to Kazakhstan. Under the agreement, the USD 43,680,000 financing package will be made available to the Standard Cement company on preferential terms, that is essential difference in the environment when cost of funding continues to escalate.

The productive capacity of the plant, which is to produce Portland cement using the less power-intensive dry-mix process, will be one million tonnes a year. The project has been recognized to be of strategic importance for Kazakhstan’s economy, as it will allow to satisfy the needs of the country’s south and to export the product to Central Asian neighbors.

The project is Kazakhstan’s first to receive approval as part of the Chinese government’s Preferential Buyer’s Credit program for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member nations. The agreement marks an important step in the development of economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and the PRC.

Incidentally, the project is the second CIS venture to be financed with BTA participation within the SCO program: in August 2007, BТА guaranteed to the EXIM Bank of China a long-term loan to Yuzhno-Kyrgyzskiy Cement in a deal that highlighted the trust placed in BTA not only by Western commercial banks, but national development institutions as well.

As the number of projects between BTA and EXIM Bank of China increases, BTA becomes increasingly well-positioned to close EXIM Bank-financed deals in the shortest possible times and on the most favorable terms.

As the leader in trade finance, BТА constantly diversifies its investor base and expands its product line, which always allows the bank to arrange financing for its clients on very competitive terms.