The KUKE and the Santander Group have provided Polish steel producer Cognor with the financing of nearly PLN 400 million for the expansion and modernization of its production facilities, which will help the company expand its operations and increase exports. For the first time, financing is provided based on new solutions available from this year at KUKE.
Cognor is the first Polish company to benefit from the KUKE’s guarantees of repayment of investment financing for the expansion of export potential. Based on this guarantee, Santander Group granted the company an investment loan of almost PLN 400 million. With this amount, Cognor plans to modernize two of its domestic plants and purchase a modern production line for the production of hot-rolled bars, which is to replace the less efficient rolling line in Zawiercie.
“The time has come to modernize and replace, our rolling mill in Zawiercie. This is our oldest manufacturing asset. It can produce more,” said Krzysztof Zola, Cognor’s financial director.
“KUKE’s new solution is innovative and a breakthrough, because so far on the financial market you could apply for financing for a maximum of five years, whereas KUKE’s guarantee allows the bank to extend this period to 10 years,” he pointed out.
The Export Support System of the Export Credit Insurance Corporation (KUKE), one of whose instruments is a guarantee of repayment of an investment loan granted by a bank to an exporter, encourages financial institutions to extend broader credits not only to trade contracts but also to investments and acquisitions undertaken by their clients. As an export support agency, KUKE offers solutions available to exporters in only a few countries in Europe.