The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a €44.7m loan to Coca-Cola Beverages Tajikistan (CCBT) to set up a bottling plant in the country.
Coca-Cola Beverages Tajikistan’s proposed greenfield soft drink bottling plant will reduce imports and increase domestic production, in addition to creating new jobs.
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The loan will be utilised by the company to refinance loans provided by Coca-Cola Içecek for the plant in the suburbs of Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe.
The proposed facility will be capable of producing up to 100 million litres of beverages annually.
EBRD Turkey and Central Asia managing director Natalia Khanjenkova said: "The new plant in Dushanbe will have strategic significance, as it will be the first ever production facility of an international company in the entire agribusiness sector in Tajikistan.
"This foreign direct investment is especially welcome at the time when the country’s economy is under strain from the regional slowdown."
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By GlobalDataDespite its stable growth rates, the Tajik beverage market had stayed underdeveloped compared with similar economies in Central Asia, according to EBRD.
Owned by Coca-Cola Içecek, CCBT is a Turkish company with operations in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. It is majority-owned by the Anadolu Efes.
CCBT will also depend on local SMEs for distribution and local suppliers for procuring raw materials.
So far, EBRD invested more than €430m across various sectors in Tajikistan.
Image: The proposed facility will be capable of producing up to 100 million litres of beverages annually. Photo: courtesy of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
