By: Ahmed Allam
Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) has signed an agreement to delay the repayment of $270 million in loans.
Under the agreement, the first tranche of the loan will mature in June 2019 rather than the end of 2017, ERC managing director Mohammed Saad said Monday on the sidelines of the opening of the company’s Mostorod plant.
The value of ERC’s new Mostorod project amounts to around $4.27 billion, distributed across investment banks, which provided a combined $2.78 billion, and individual shareholders who have offered $1.3 billion, Saad said.
Japanese financial institutions topped the list of financers, providing around $900 million, while the Export-Import Bank of Korea came second with $800 million.
Meanwhile, the European Investment Bank (EIB) invested $450 million, South Korea’s GS Group pumped $300 million, and both the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Japan’s Mitsui contributed around $200 million to the project’s total financing.
Citadel Capital chairman Ahmed Heikal, said his company, which owns a portion of ERC, had previously said that ERC would begin producing oil derivatives from the Mostorod plant by September 2018.
In May, Egypt’s petroleum minister Tarek El Molla said that ERC’s project was expected to be finalised and begin trial operations by the end of 2017.
Translated by: Mahmoud Zahwey
