Japan's JBIC backs $788m Russian chemicals project

The investment will be made via the Russia-Japan Investment Fund (RJIF), which was established in 2017 with RDIF and JBIC each agreeing to commit $500 million. JBIC participates in RJIF via a joint venture with Japan’s Industrial Growth Platform known as JBIC IG Partners.

Chemical plant construction is planned to begin in early 2020 and be completed by 2022. The project has secured an offtake contract with Russia’s AEON Infrastructure Corporation, which will supply Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation with downstream goods.

“Our Japanese partners appreciate the investment attractiveness of the chemical cluster project in Volgograd,” Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of RDIF, said in a statement. “Its products will be highly competitive in the global market due to minimal production costs. We look forward to further collaboration with Japanese companies on new projects in Russia.”

It follows closely on another eastern European foray by JBIC alongside Estonian private equity firm BaltCap. The two firms have agreed to launch a EUR100 million ($113 million) Europe-Asia cross-border venture fund that will focus on Japan. It will be managed by JB Nordic Ventures, a 50-50 joint venture of BaltCap and JBIC IG Partners. 

JBIC is an active participant in PE and VC funds, having backed vehicles by the likes of KKR, CVC Capital Partners, Tata Capital Private Equity, Dream Incubator, and cleantech-focused Tsing Capital. Last year, the firm contributed $50 million to a fund raised by Advantage Partners targeting small to medium-sized enterprises across Asia, ex-Japan.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Industrials
• Japan
• Russia
• RDIF
• JBIC
• manufacturing