Report: JBIC to loan $211 million to Yamal LNG

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation is readying a €200 million (US$211.5 million) loan for the Novatek-operated Yamal LNG project in Russia. 

Speaking to reporters at a conference in Tokyo, JBIC’s CEO Tadashi Maeda said the contract is set to be signed in December, Reuters reports.

Maeda also revealed that JBIC is planning to create an investment fund in cooperation with the Russian Direct Investment Fund, with each partner contributing about 50 billion yen ($443.3 million).

It was reported at the beginning of September that JBIC could loan a total of $400 million to the Yamal LNG project.

Novatek’s CEO Leonid Mikhelson, during his recent meeting with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, confirmed that the $27 billion LNG project is now fully financed.

He added that the project is on track to ship its first cargo of LNG by the end of next year with the Yamal LNG plant being around 85 percent complete.

Shareholders in the Yamal LNG project are Novatek, as the operator with a 50.1 percent stake, CNPC and Total with 20 percent stake each and China’s Silk Road Fund with a 9.9 percent stake.

1 EUR = 1.05736 USD; 1 JPY = 0.00886628 USD

LNG World News Staff