August 31, 2021

Cherkizovo secures funding for new production facility in Tula Region, Russia

Gazprombank and Cherkizovo Group signed a loan agreement to finance the construction of a high-tech automated production facility for slaughtering pigs and processing pork in the Tula Region, Russia.

Gazprombank will grant Cherkizovo a 12-year credit facility, providing ₽40.8 billion (US$555.5 million) of the ₽48 billion (US$654 million) to be invested in the project. The deal is structured as a project financing arrangement under the Russian Ministry of Agriculture's concessional lending programme for agricultural producers.

The slaughtering and processing facility in Tula will boost Cherkizovo's high value-added capacity to 500,000 tonnes per year. Additionally, the new factory will create over 2,000 jobs in the region.

"This ambitious project in partnership with one of Russia's leading agricultural players is a major milestone in the long-term cooperation between Gazprombank and Cherkizovo Group. We are confident that our expertise and extensive experience in financing the agricultural sector will help bring the project to successful completion," Timur Belikov, executive vice president and head of the Project and Structured Financing Department at Gazprombank, said.

"Cherkizovo Group is Russia's largest meat producer. We are happy to be contributing to the construction of a new facility that should bolster the group's market position," Gennady Koptyaev, vice president and branch manager at Gazprombank's Central Black Earth Branch, said.

"The slaughtering and processing facility will be part of Russia's largest meat-processing cluster, which we are putting together in the Tula Region. We are very pleased that the project is supported by Gazprombank, our long-time partner with a strong track record for reliability," Irina Kondratova, head of treasury, corporate finance and reporting at Cherkizovo Group, said.

- Cherkizovo