Washington D.C., September 16, 2002
—The International Finance Corporation, the private sector development arm of the World Bank, will support the rehabilitation, modernization, and expansion of a recently privatized Bosnian cement factory with up to Euros 25 million in financing. The investment reflects IFC’s continued support for Bosnia’s ongoing transition to a market economy.
The investment in Fabrika Cementa Lukavac (FCL), located in the city of Lukavac, will consist of up to Euros 20 million for IFC’s own account and up to Euros 5 million from the participating bank, Erste Bank. The project – estimated to cost approximately Euros 102 million – will seek to both optimize and expand the clinker and cement production capacity at the plant.
Khosrow Zamani, IFC’s Director for Southern Europe and Central Asia, said: “The modernization and expansion of Fabrika Cementa Lukavac and its ultimate transformation into an efficient, private, sustainable company will be an important milestone in Bosnia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its private sector. The investment will also meet several key IFC strategic goals in supporting Bosnia, including employment retention, post-conflict economic recovery, encouraging foreign direct investment, improving environmental conditions in local industries, and energy savings in production.”
ALAS Bosna and FCL will make the investment. ALAS Bosna is a special purpose company created to lead the construction and expansion of FCL. ALAS International, the majority shareholder of FCL, and sole owner of ALAS Bosna, is a holding company established as a joint venture between the Asamer & Hufnagl Group (71.5 percent), a leading Austrian private company in the construction and aggregate business, and Alpine Mayreder bau GmbH (28.5 percent), another leading Austrian private construction company. Both Asamer and Alpine are highly regarded companies in Austria.
IFC’s mission is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. Since its founding in 1956 through the close of the last fiscal year on June 30, 2002, IFC committed more than $34 billion of its own funds and arranged $21 billion in syndications for 2,825 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s committed portfolio at the end of FY02 was $15.1 billion for our own account and $6.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.