Sber to finance construction of unique low-grade wood processing plant by lending RUB 2.8 billion

Sber will finance the construction of a unique timber processing plant in Pskov Region, Russia, by providing RUB 2.8 billion. Production waste will be used to make compressed wooden blocks for pallets, with low-grade wood accounting for 100% of raw materials used at the production site. The project is FCS and PEFC certified, which confirms that wood harvesting complies with environmentally responsible, socially oriented and economically sustainable forest management and pan-European environmental requirements.

OSKO-Invest, an OSKO Group company, will be the one implementing this greenfield project, which is an exportation-focused enterprise producing boards and compressed wooden blocks for pallets. The project’s aggregate budget surpasses RUB 4.8 billion. OSKO-Invest products meet International Standards For Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 (ISPM 15).

By order of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Russia, the project has been put on the list of top priority investment projects. The deal has been structured in view of state support measures, with the interest rate on the loan subsidized through the corporate program designed to enhance competitiveness in the framework of the national project called “International Cooperation and Exportation” run by the ministry.

The project consists of two phases. The first one, the production of boards for pallets with a volume of 90,000 m³, was financed using the company funds and launched in the fourth quarter of 2020. The second – the production of wooden blocks with a volume of 140,000 m³ – was financed using RUB 811 million in company money and the remaining RUB 2.8 billion coming as a bank loan.