Stora Enso has agreed a €240m risk mitigation loan facility to fund developments in central and eastern Europe, including two new sawmills.
The facility, with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and co-sponsored by three Nordic banks, can be drawn until the end of 2005 with maturities of up to nine years.
Planned greenfield sawmills in Karelia and Novgorod and a new corrugated board mill in Arzamas, Russia will be the first projects to be funded by the loan.
The company’s chief financial officer Esko Mäkeläinen said: “Stora Enso is pleased to have EBRD as a strong partner in its future expansion in Russia and eastern Europe.”
