01.02.2012

• Delivery of the plant by Andritz-Group 
• OeKB expands coverage policy to include Chinese credit corporate risk 
• RBI Beijing branch finances local production

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), together with its Beijing branch, provided a credit facility for erecting a tissue production plant for Ganzhou Hwagain Paper in south-eastern China. The total investment costs for the plant add up to approximately € 92 million. Half of this amount will be financed, whereas the deliveries deriving from Austria will be provided in form of a buyer's credit guaranteed by Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG (OeKB) in the amount of € 12 million. RBI Beijing branch provides the credit facility covering both local production and imports from third countries amounting to € 33 million.

"Raiffeisen Bank International enjoys good and long lasting business relationship with both the Andritz Group and Ganzhou Hwagain Paper Co. Jointly with the OeKB’s experts, our staff succeeded in making this unique structure work. The involvement of the RBI branch in Beijing emphasises the importance of our presence in Asia for our Austrian and international corporate customers", said Karl Sevelda, RBI's Deputy Chairman of the Managing Board and in charge of Corporate Banking.

Commissioning of the production plant is scheduled for 2013. The machines have an annual production capacity of approximately 120,000 tonnes of high-end quality tissue. Driven by local demand, the Chinese paper industry records continuous high growth rates. Andritz, as one of the global market leaders in the pulp and paper industry, has a production facility in China that will provide substantial parts of this project.

OeKB, the federal government’s agent, is Austria’s official export credit agency. It profitably operates the system of export guarantees for non-marketable risks of cross-border transactions. Guaranteeing a credit facility granted to a Chinese company in connection with Austrian supplies is an expansion of OeKB's coverage policy up to now.

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International technology Group ANDRITZ is a globally leading supplier of plants, equipment, and services for hydropower stations, the pulp and paper industry, solid-liquid separation in the municipal and industrial sectors, the steel industry, and the production of animal feed and biomass pellets. In addition, ANDRITZ offers technologies for certain other sectors including automation, pumps, machinery for nonwovens and plastic films, steam boiler plants, biomass boilers and gasification plants for energy generation, flue gas cleaning plants, plants for the production of panelboards (MDF), thermal sludge utilization, and torrefaction plants. The publicly listed company is headquartered in Graz, Austria, has a staff of approximately 16,700 employees, and operates over 180 production sites as well as service and sales companies all around the world. http://www.andritz.com

Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft (OeKB) is Austria's main provider of financial and information services to the export industry and the capital market. OeKB offers a wide range of specialised services to companies in all sectors, including financial institutions and Austrian government agencies. OeKB acts as a central hub in the markets, operating impartially and in accordance with its sustainability policy. Its shareholders are Austrian commercial banks. True to its mandate to support the Austrian economy, OeKB has served trade and industry since the institution's founding in 1946. http://www.oekb.at

Ganzhou Hwagain Paper Co., Ltd, was founded in 2001 and has since been very successful as producer of offset paper. With the completion of this household paper plant, the company will increase its field of business by entering the household paper market and optimise its value and supply chain. The major share of the raw material needed will be provided by their own production facilities. High environmental standards are applied within all companies of the group.