Washington, DC, May 2, 2005
— The World Bank Group’s private sector financing arm has acquired a stake in Russian gold mining company Peter Hambro Mining Plc to help diversify Russia’s resource economy.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) took equity worth $15 million to support a company that promises to help develop Russia’s rich natural resources in a responsible and sustainable way. The investment supports the company’s investment program for exploration and appraisal of its properties in the Amur region in Russia’s Far East. This includes feasibility studies for the expansion of the plant at its Pokrovskiy mine, the appraisal of the nearby Pioneer deposit, exploration of other potential deposits and environmental and social impact assessments.
The equity investment is accompanied by an eight-year IFC option to subscribe for one further share in the company for each share held. Peter Hambro Mining is a gold exploration and mining company operating in Russia and is listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market exchange.
Through this transaction IFC aims to help the company realize its potential. “We look forward to supporting Peter Hambro Mining in its growth and development over the coming months and years. We expect it to become an important gold mining company and an innovator in combining the best of Russian and international operational methods to achieve their own form of best practice,” said Christopher Goss, principal investment officer at IFC.
The investment helps develop the gold sector in the Amur region and in Russia as a whole, where the resource economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas. It also sets high business, environmental, and social standards.
The mission of IFC (
www.ifc.org
) 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, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. From its founding in 1956 through FY04, IFC has committed more than $44 billion of its own funds and arranged $23 billion in syndications for 3,143 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s worldwide committed portfolio as of FY04 was $17.9 billion for its own account and $5.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.
