Azerbaijan’s Socar secures financing for $3.5bn gas chemical complex

By bne IntelliNews June 20, 2016

Azerbaijan's state-owned oil company Socar has signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia’s Gazprombank, Russian credit agency Exiar and the Italian credit agency for the financing of a $3.5bn gas chemical complex, Trend news agency reported on June 18.

Russian investment, including contracts to Russian contractors and the cost of equipment and materials, will represent a fifth of the total investment. The agreement was signed during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (Spief). A separate agreement with Gazprombank was also signed for the development and delivery of nitrogen units for Socar's polypropylene plants under construction in Azerbaijan.

Socar has been seeking to increase its downstream investments in recent years, and is currently financing several projects related to petrochemicals and oil refineries in Azerbaijan and Turkey. Foremost among them are the Star refinery on Turkey's Aegean coast, a $5.5bn investment, and the OGPC petrochemical complex in Azerbaijan. 

Gazprombank, the banking arm of Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom, ranks as Russia's third largest bank.

Related Articles

Iran industry minister says central bank should not interfere in trade policy

Iran's industry minister has said the central bank should be stripped of its role in trade policy, blaming foreign exchange interventions for constraining exporters and creating challenges for ... more

Saudi Arabia convenes emergency Arab-Islamic ministerial talks in Riyadh as Gulf War enters third week

Saudi Arabia is hosting an emergency meeting of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers in Riyadh on March 18, as the US-Israeli war against Iran enters its 19th day with no sign of a ceasefire, the ... more

More than 2,000 evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan

Dutch and Algerian embassy staff have been evacuated from Iran into Azerbaijan through the Astara border crossing on March 10, as the total number of people evacuated via the route since the start of ... more

Dismiss
liveChat() ?>