15.06.2023 – Arnest.Packaging Solutions

The investment project of Arnest Packaging Solutions in Ulyanovsk will be financed under the Priority Projects programme of the Industrial Development Fund of the Russian Federation. On 15 June at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Industrial Development Fund and the investor signed an agreement to provide a preferential loan of RUB 5 billion at 1% per annum for the plant. In addition, an agreement on further development of the project was signed between the Government of the Ulyanovsk Region, the Regional Development Corporation and the investor company.

The previous owner of the assets, the American company Ball Corporation, started the project, but the project was frozen due to the company's withdrawal from the Russian market. The new owner, Arnest Group, has announced that construction will resume in December 2022. The project involves the construction of a new state-of-the-art aluminium beverage can manufacturing plant. To date, construction of the plant is well underway.

"To realise this project, the DIF provides us with a preferential loan at a 1% interest rate for up to 7 years, which will allow us to purchase modern high-speed equipment and enter industrial production as quickly as possible," said Alexey Sagal, President of Arnest Group of Companies. - The total investment in the project will amount to more than RUB 10bn.

Of this, about 50 per cent has been provided by the DIF in the form of a soft loan. As a result of the project, the Russian beverage market will receive about 1.6 billion cans per year." "The main task of the DIF is to help Russian industrialists create new production facilities. Now we are seeing one of the clear examples when a Russian enterprise bought out the asset of a foreign company that was leaving and took on the implementation of their project, which will make it possible to realise plans to create high-quality and in-demand products, create new jobs and generate tax revenues for budgets at all levels. It is pleasant to see that our enterprises are actively occupying the niches that have been vacant since the departure of foreign companies. That is, they use the current situation as a window of opportunity," said Roman Petruta, Director of DIF.

"The support of the DIF is more relevant today than ever before. It will bring to completion an investment project to create a major new manufacturing facility in the region, which will employ around 200 residents. The project received the status of a particularly significant investment project of the Ulyanovsk region. We will make all necessary efforts to promptly resolve the investor's issues during the construction of the plant," emphasised Alexey Russkikh, Governor of the Ulyanovsk region.

"We are now working closely with the company - assisting with recruitment. The project is also interesting because in addition to the development of the beverage and packaging market, it will contribute to the development of related industries, such as aluminium and aluminium strip production," said Sergey Vasin, General Director of the Development Corporation.