The money has been in the pipeline for a while, but the official sign-off only took place in Vologda on October 3 at an event attended by representatives of the local authorities, Kari Koskinen, board member of Koskisen parent Koskitukki Oy and Alain Pilloux and Erik Rasmussen of the EBRD.
Koskitukki’s Russian subsidiary Koskisilva will manage the project and the EBRD becomes a partner with a stake of €1.2m. The bank is also pledging a loan of €12m for phase two of the project; birch veneer and plywood plants.
The sawmill will start production in May or June next year and have annual capacity of 20,000m3.
The whole project is costing €40m and was billed by Mr Pilloux as “the first major investment in Russia by a western family company”.
Mr Koskinen said that the involvement of the EBRD gave the development strong foundations.
“The processes of the bank ensure support for the project at local, provincial and federal level and its strict standards provide guarantees and security for Russian society as a whole,” he said.
