EBRD finances Kazakh oil

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a US$50mn convertible loan to Petrolinvest to finance the completion of exploration works at the company’s main oilfields.

Petrolinvest, a Polish oil and gas company, will use the financing to finalise the exploration of two sites in Kazakhstan in an attempt to establish the company as a leading oil and gas producer.

Furthermore, the financing will increase the volume of Petrolinvest’s hydrocarbon reserves.

This comes after a series of EBRD investments of more than US$5.2bn into Poland and over US$3.2bn into Kazakhstan.

The financing is in line with EBRD’s priorities of supporting international expansion of Polish private companies and widespread private ownership in Kazakhstan’s oil and gas sector.

Kevin Bortz, EBRD for natural resources, comments: “This project will enable Petrolinvest to pursue its ambitious development strategy in the current challenging market conditions and to set new and improved corporate governance and environment standards.”

The decision, which comes after months of analyses from EBRD, is a testament to Petrolinvest’s high standards, as Pawel Gricuk, president of the management board of Petrolinvest, comments: “With this decision, we have received not only a commitment to further finance our investment programme in Kazakhstan, but also the support of one of the world’s most conservative financial institutions and the largest institutional investor in our region, which sets a particularly high standard for the corporate governance.”