Standard Oil operates a chain of petrol filling stations under the Petroleum brand name across the country, with 80 stations already in operation and five new ones planned thanks to the new loan. Having originated in the less economically developed south of the Kyrgyz Republic, the company has grown to be the second-largest player in the sector.
Aida Sitdikova, EBRD Director for Energy and Natural Resources, Russia and Central Asia, said: “The Bank's support to small and medium-sized businesses in the Kyrgyz Republic is well demonstrated by this engagement with Standard Oil, a dynamic and growing fuel-retail operator.”
This is the 10th joint project of the EBRD and KICB since 2012 that has provided longer-term financing to medium-sized enterprises in the Kyrgyz Republic. In one of the previous projects, a food producer in Osh, Shirin Sulaiman, received US$ 1 million in joint financing.
http://kabar.kg/eng/economics/full/13042