The two-year, $10m loan is extending the working capital facility which was approved to Astarta in 2018
EBRD provides $10m loan to Ukraine agro industrial company Astarta. (Credit: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed to provide a $10m working capital loan to Astarta, a Ukrainian agricultural and industrial company.
The two-year loan is the extension of the working capital facility that was approved to Astarta in 2018 and will support its operations during the coronavirus pandemic.
The company operates more than 230,000 hectares of arable farmland, sugar plants, a soybean processing factory as well as dairy farms which will support the company to implement plans related to the launch of the precision farming.
Astarta uses modern agricultural technologies to improve crop yields
The modern agricultural technologies are being used by the Ukrainian company to improve the crop yields while reducing the mineral fertiliser’s usage by 15%
The bank said that it has launched two Solidarity Packages in response to the Covid-19 crisis and now expects to dedicate its total business investment of up to €21bn in 2020-21 to overcome the economic impact of the crisis.
Recently, the bank with support from the European Union (EU) has provided €10.9m loan to Tunisian processed cheese-maker Land’Or to expand its operations in Tunisia and Morocco.
In Tunisia, Land’Or will receive a €3.1m loan to procure new machinery and increase the production capacity. In Morocco, Land’Or’s subsidiary Land’Or Maroc Industries (LMI) will receive €7.8m from the bank.
LMI will use the loan amount to buy and install equipment at its new cheese-making facility to be constructed in Kenitra, north of Rabat.
The new facility can produce up to 2,700 tonnes of processed triangle cheese per annum and is expected to be operational by the end of next year.