Investment to strengthen cross-border expansion

The EBRD has taken equity stakes of up to 15 percent each in the Ukrainian subsidiaries of Polish building materials companies Barlinek and Cersanit to support their cross-border expansion.

Both companies are currently setting up production facilities in Ukraine with the support of EBRD loans they have received in recent years. The equity investment comes on top of these loans and will further strengthen the relationship between the Bank and the companies.

Barlinek is the leading Polish floorboard manufacturer with a strong market presence also in Western Europe. With an EBRD loan of €39.9 million - half of which was syndicated - the company is already expanding its operations in Ukraine and Russia, where a construction boom has generated high demand for Barlinek’s products. A new, recently commissioned plant in Vinnytsia, central Ukraine, with a production of 2 million square metres of floorboards will ease capacity constraints and allow for the company’s further growth.

Cersanit is Poland’s market leader in sanitary ware with several production facilities in the country. The EBRD is supporting the company’s expansion to Ukraine with a €81.0 million loan – half of which was syndicated. Cersanit is building a new production facility in Novograd Volinskiy, in northern Ukraine, with a capacity of 1 million units of sanitary ware and 7 million square metres of ceramic tiles per year. The plant will strengthen Cersanit’s presence in Ukraine and create additional capacities for export.

The companies Barlinek SA and Cersanit SA are listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and both are majority-owned by Michal Solowow, a Polish businessman. The EBRD’s stake is portage equity which is being provided to further strengthen the Ukrainian operations of Polish companies.

EBRD President Jean Lemierre said at the signing that the Bank’s investment was a good example of what the EBRD could do to support the growth of successful Polish business. “Cross-border investments and the expansion into new markets are clearly the way forward and we stand ready to support companies who are taking this path”, he added.