Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
In October 2023, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, president of Kazakhstan, visited China. During the visit, on October 17th, 2023, GPC Investment LLP — a special purpose vehicle and wholly-owned subsidiary of QazaqGaz JSC — signed a syndicated buyer’s credit agreement with Bank of China Limited (Tokyo Branch), JSC AB “Bank of China Kazakhstan”, and China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited for the Kashagan Gas Processing Plant Construction Project. The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. However, it is known that the loan is backed by a repayment guarantee from Samruk-Kazyna JSC and a Sinosure credit insurance policy. The purpose of the $860 million project is to construct a gas processing plant at the Kashagan field in the Makat district of Atyrau region. The gas processing plant is to be built near the Bolashak integrated oil treatment facility of NCOC, 60 km from the city of Atyrau. During the construction of the plant, up to 2,500 temporary jobs are expected to be created and 600 permanent jobs are expected to be created during the gas processing plant’s operation period. The plant's capacity is expected to allow it to process up to 1 billion cubic meters of raw gas per year coming from the Kashagan field.
Staff comments
1. The precise face value of the syndicated buyer’s credit is unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes that the face value of the loan is equal to 85% ($731 million) of the total project cost ($860 million). This issue warrants further investigation (via https://qazaqgaz.kz/en/otchety). 2. The individual financial contributions of the members of the syndicate are unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes equal contributions($243,666,666) across the three known members of the syndicate. Therefore, the estimated joint contribution of Bank of China Limited (Tokyo Branch), JSC AB “Bank of China Kazakhstan” is $487,333,333 and the estimated contribution of China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited is $243,666,666. 3. QazaqGaz JSC is the largest gas supply company in the Government of Kazakhstan, representing the interests of the state on the domestic gas market and worldwide. It is wholly-owned by the Government of Kazakhstan 4. Samruk-Kazyna JSC (Kazakh: Самұрық-Қазына, Samūryq-Qazyna, [sɑmo̙rɯq qɑzɯnɑ]), officially known as the National Welfare Fund "Samruk-Kazyna" (Kazakh: «Самұрық-Қазына» ұлттық әл-ауқат қоры» Акционерлік Қоғамы, romanized: "Samūryq–Qazyna" ūlttyk äl–auqat qory, Aktsionerlik Qoğamy), is a sovereign wealth fund and and joint stock company in Kazakhstan. it was was founded in 2008 by a Decree of the President of the Government of Kazakhstan. 5. In 2022, QazaqGaz JSC signed a KZT 40 billion (approximately $88.5 million) bridge loan agreement with GPC Investment LLP for the Kashagan Gas Processing Plant Construction Project. QazaqGaz JSC made two disbursements worth KZT 3,933,819,000 with a final maturity date of September 12, 2023. Then, in 2023, it disbursed an additional KZT 31,033,328,000 (with a final maturity date of September 12, 2023). 6. The Chinese project title is 哈萨克斯坦卡沙甘油田1期10亿方天然气处理厂建设项目 or 哈萨克斯坦卡沙甘油田10亿方天然气处理厂建设项目.