EBRD provides loan to Turkish tyre company

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a $150 million long-term loan to Brisa Bridgestone Sabanc? Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., a leader in the Turkish tyre sector and Europe’s seventh largest tyre manufacturer, the bank said August 23.

The company is a joint venture between one of Turkey’s leading industrial and financial conglomerates, Haci Omer Sabanci Holdings, and Japan’s Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s leading manufacturer of tyre and rubber products.

With EBRD financing, the company is planning to invest in its new greenfield plant in Aksaray Province Organised Industrial Zone to produce tyres for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles under the Bridgestone and Lassa brands.

Part of the loan's proceeds will also help Brisa expand their production of truck and bus tyres at its Izmit plant in north-western Anatolia, the EBRD’s report said.

The new production facility in Aksaray, a central Anatolian city, is set to become the company’s strategic hub, serving the growing market for tyres in Turkey and neighbouring countries. It will also provide a significant boost to the local economy, according to the report.

The EBRD started investing in Turkey in 2009 and currently operates from offices in Istanbul, Ankara and Gaziantep. Some 98 percent of the bank’s investments in the country are in the private sector and about half of them are in projects that promote the sustainable use of energy.

To date, the EBRD has invested over seven billion euros in Turkey through more than 180 projects in infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, industry and finance. It has also mobilised about ˆ17 billion for these ventures from other sources of financing. (Trend.az)