Some 400 kilometres east of Moscow lies the town of Kstovo, a small, unassuming district that will shortly house the largest PVC plant not just in Russia but in the whole of Europe. Construction has begun and the site is scheduled to become operational by 2013, thanks to an innovative project finance agreement which has been more than four years in the making.
The brainchild of two leading petrochemical groups, Sibur of Russia and SolVin of Belgium, the plant is being funded via a €750m, 12.5-year facility from a group of banks comprising BNP Paribas, HSBC and ING, as well as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Sberbank of Russia.
