EBRD cash for Wienerberger bricks

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will fund part of Austria-based Wienerberger Company’s project to build a brick factory in Romania, following a greenfield investment. EBRD will provide up to 2.3 million euros in form of a capital increase enabling it to hold about one third in the capital of the company running the project. The project, worth 17.1 million euros, will be co-financed through loans granted by Austrian banks and secured by OeKB (the Austrian export credit agency) up to 4.1 million euros, with the rest of the funds covered by Wienerberger, one of the international brick producers, from its own resources. “EBRD will support through this commitment a powerful industrial investor during the first stage of developing productive operations in Romania, and this way send out a positive signal to all the other potential investors.” EBRD officials say. ZF