RUSAL secured a 46.6 million loan to fund a program to upgrade the Yerevan Armenal foil plant

RUSAL, one of the world's leading aluminum producers, has secured a 46.6 million export loan to fund a large-scale program to upgrade the Armenal foil plant in Armenia. The loan is extended by German-based Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) with guarantees from the German export loan agency Euler Hermes.

As Mediamax was told in the RUSAL press service today, the loan, extended in two parts, will fully cover capital equipment costs and service fees necessary to implement the modernization program. RUSAL's agreement with German-based Achenbach to commence Armenal's major modernization was signed in October 2004. The $70 million upgrade program will create a full cycle production system and extend the plant's product assortment.

The first stage of the modernization project is expected to be completed in autumn 2005. As a result, the modernized plant's production capacity will reach 25,000 tons of foil annually. Armenal will focus on the manufacture of thin foil (6-7 micron thick) - a product in high demand both in Russia and internationally. Armenal has been founded in 2000 on the basis of the Kanaker foil plant as a joint venture of RUSAL and the Armenian government. Beginning January 2003, the plant fully belongs to RUSAL.