VEB Bank to Provide $741mn Loan for Gazprom’s New LNG Project

Russian state development bank VEB said on Monday it will provide a 55 billion rouble ($741 million) loan for Gazprom’s liquefied natural gas project near the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, Reuters repoted.

The project will comprise building both a gas processing complex with an annual capacity of 45 billion cubic metres and a 13 million tonne per year LNG plant at the site.

RusKhimAlyans, a joint venture between state gas company Gazprom and its Russian partner RusGazDobycha, plans to use the funds to prepare the project’s documentation, for advance payments and some other costs, VEB said.

Royal Dutch Shell quit the project last year after Gazprom moved to integrate its Baltic LNG project and gas processing plants and added a partner with links to an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.