Turkish glass producer to expand operations at home and abroad with the help of EBRD loans

Trakya is an important manufacturer of flat glass products with established works in Turkey, the Western Balkans, Russia and the Middle East and North Africa.

A €70 million loan to the company will be used mainly to finance the construction of a greenfield production plant for flat glass products in Russia’s Tatarstan region as well as for energy efficiency investments in its Turkish operations. With the help of the second loan of €40 million Trakya will upgrade and expand the capacity of its subsidiary in Bulgaria which produces float glass and glassware. The subsidiary, Trakya Glass Bulgaria, is located near the town of Targovishte.

The financing for the Tatarstan factory will make an important contribution to efforts in Russia to reduce energy waste in buildings by increasing the supply of high-quality glass in a country with harsh winters and an ageing housing stock./// Thermal efficiency in Russian buildings remains lower than in the EU countries and the EBRD has been working with the Russian authorities to help draft regulations on energy efficiency for buildings.

“Currently, the share of energy efficient glass in the building products market in Russia is approximately 10 to 15 per cent,” said Frederic Lucenet, Director for Manufacturing and Services at the EBRD. “The loan will enable Trakya to increase the sales of energy-saving windows and therefore decrease energy consumption.”

“The EBRD also expects that Trakya will now join the pool of the glass producers committed to energy efficient solutions and will advance policy dialogue with Russian authorities on developing regulations for energy-saving housing construction,” he added.

In Bulgaria, with the EBRD investment, Trakya’s subsidiary will be able to diversify production, adding coated glass and laminated glass products along with energy efficiency and security features to its portfolio.

In its Turkish operations Trakya will use the EBRD financing to develop innovative systems for waste heat recovery and oxy-fuelling – technology that uses pure oxygen to combust natural gas or other fuels in a manner that produces clean power – yet little used in the area where it operates.

“As a result of this energy efficiency effort, the EBRD investments in Trakya’s operations in Turkey, Bulgaria and Russia will yield CO2 emission savings of about 400,000 tonnes per year,” explained Mr Lucenet. “It is encouraging that Trakya has mainstreamed energy efficiency in all its operations thus raising the bar in glass production and setting an example to follow by other players on the market,” he added.

The EBRD is at the forefront of helping countries where it invests in secure sustainable energy supplies, financing the efficient use of energy that will cut demand and imports, reduce pollution and mitigate the effects of climate change. As the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced, the EBRD has invested over €10 billion in projects as part of its Sustainable Energy Initiative, launched in May 2006 to address the twin challenges of energy efficiency and climate change in the region.