Deal of the Year 2007

The supplier for the cement factory is PSP Engineering, a company from Prerov, a mid-Moravian city and the entire project has been financed by Belgian Fortis Bank through its Prague branch-office. EGAP insured an export buyer credit worth almost CZK2 billion. Recipient of the credit has been AO BTA, a Kazakh bank from Almaty (former Bank TuranAlem). After finishing of the construction in April next year, it shall lease the delivered equipment in the form of financial leasing to the company BI Cement for 10 years; the company is a subsidiary of one of largest Kazakhstan private construction companies, Bild Investment Group.

Reasons why the project was included among the best deals last year are principally three. The first one has been the fact it was a comparatively infrequent transaction where the insured was a foreign bank financing the Czech export on the basis of its framework loan agreement with the debtor, in this case with the bank AO BTA. The second one lies in position of the debtor - the bank AO BTA - in an unusual simultaneous role of a buyer and lessor. The third reason was that jurors regarded highly an unusually quick negotiation of insurance during 4-5 months since the first contact of Fortis Bank of Prague with EGAP.

Export contract for delivery of project documentation, technology and machinery for construction of the factory for production of Portland cement with capacity of 500 thousand tons per year worth EUR43.6 million was signed by PSP Engineering as seller, AO BTA as buyer, and TOO "BI Cement" as recipient to whom AO BTA will grant a lease of delivered equipment in the form of financial leasing for 10 years.

Total costs of the project of construction of the cement factory are approximately EUR86 million, the investor covers from own resources 15 per cent (EUR12.4 million) - purchase of land, construction machines and such.

EGAP granted insurance of the credit for the investment unit; its substantial part is from Czech production and the main supplier is a Czech company - known to EGAP as a reliable exporter tested in previous transactions.

In the past, EGAP insured a number of smaller and medium-sized Czech exports with AO BTA as a debtor, e.g. equipment for a brewery, for a mill, agricultural equipment, packaging line, signal lights for airports; good experience took us to this large transaction..

Beside AO BTA, EGAP has good experience with other Kazakh banks as Kazkommertsbank, Nurbank and Alliance Bank.

EGAP was among awarded companies also at announcing of results of competition of GTR for the best deal 2006 when it assisted in realization of the first multi-sourced financing of an export where the leader was a Czech bank. It was Komerční banka granting a credit for financing of a factory for production of packaging paper and cardboard boxes in Moscow Region. In its insurance EGAP was associated with foreign insurers EULER HERMES and COFACE; the shared the risk of the whole transaction by reinsuring deliveries of German and French companies and confirmed thus their confidence in EGAP as a main insurer of the entire project.