Kazakhstan’s Rudny Cement Factory opening delayed until 2018

The opening of the 0.5Mta Rudny Cement Factory in Kazakhstan has been rescheduled for 2018, according to the regional governor’s office. The works was initially scheduled to start operation by the end of this year.

The KZT14.8bn (US$44.4m) project is in the final stage of completion but the refusal by the Sberbank Kazakhstan to provide additional financing is leading to the delay. Shareholders invested an additional KZT1.1bn out of the required KZT2.8bn in the project, but after the bank's refusal to finance the project, agreed to increase the investment to KZT1.8bn.

However, the regional governor's office emphasised that the government fully supports the project. "Public funds in the amount of KZT739.6m covered the construction of engineering infrastructure [electrical and heating networks, sewerage, an access road, telecommunication networks]. SEC Tobol provided a KZT700.8m loan for the purchase of building materials. Subsidies under the Business Roadmap 2020 totalled KZT1.223bn subsidies as of 1 October 2017," the office said.

The construction of Rudny Cement Factory has been put on hold and resumed multiple times since 2010 due to lack of financing.