World meat industry news

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.

Gazprombank will grant Cherkizovo a 12-year credit facility, providing RUB 40.8 bn of the RUB 48 bn to be invested in the project. The deal is structured as a project financing arrangement under the Ministry of Agriculture's concessional lending program for agricultural producers.

The slaughtering and processing facility in the Tula Region will boost Cherkizovo’s high value-added capacity to 500,000 tonnes per year. Additionally, the new factory will create over 2,000 highly-paid 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,” said Timur Belikov, Executive Vice President – Head of the Project and Structured Financing Department at Gazprombank.

“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,” commented Gennady Koptyaev, Vice President – Branch Manager at Gazprombank’s Central Black Earth Branch.

“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,” said Irina Kondratova, Head of Treasury, Corporate Finance and Reporting at Cherkizovo Group.

Gazprombank ranks among Russia’s Top 3 banks by main volume indicators (according to Interfax-100. Russian banks) and is one of the largest financial institutions in Central and Eastern Europe.

The bank provides a wide range of services to corporate clients and individuals. Gazprombank works with key sectors of the Russian economy – gas, oil, chemicals and petrochemicals, metallurgy, electricity, mechanical engineering, transportation, construction, communications, agriculture, trade, and others. The Bank boasts many years of unique experience in the arrangement of project financing and placement of debt instruments on the Russian and international capital markets; the provision of financial and advisory services involving project, corporate and debt financing, as well as experience in the field of corporate investment management both in Russia and abroad.

Gazprombank’s retail business is focused on providing modern high-tech products and services. As of the beginning of 2021, the Bank was providing services to roughly 5 million individuals. The Bank’s retail loan portfolio as of the end of 2020 stood at more than RUB 660 bn, with a retail deposit portfolio in excess of RUB 770 bn.