European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will grant EUR 20 million financing to French group Soufflet, which will invest in Romania, Poland and Ukraine, to extend its network of grain storage and seed production facilities, the bank said in a statement.
Soufflet is looking to form a new company, International Grain Silos, which will consolidate its business in the three countries. EBRD will own a 35 percent stake in thew new company.
Soufflet ains to develop an integrated chain for malt production in the region.
“This new agreement will allow us to intensify our cooperation with Soufflet, which up until now has been succesful. Producers in the region that EBRD targets will only have to gain from this integrated chain, whcih assures an improved infrastructure”, according to Gilles Mettetal, EBRD director for Agriculture.
Soufflet Group is one of the biggest names on the global grains market, and in Romania it owns the biggest malt factory in the country, Soufflet Malt House, with a total annual capacity of 195,000 tonnes.