The $25 million loan is part of a total expected project cost of $83.1 million. The project will support Astarta’s long-term strategy to develop and modernize its existing grain and sugar infrastructure, allowing the company to achieve greater operating and production efficiency while lowering costs.

As part of the project, Astarta plans to build and acquire six grain storage facilities with a total capacity of 480,000 tonnes and build one sugar storage facility with a total storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes, the EBRD said. The new storage facilities will be located in Poltava and Khmelnitsky.

“All of the project components will be constructed on undeveloped land or the existing logistics sites,” the EBRD said. “No additional land acquisition or resettlement is anticipated. Potential impacts will relate primarily to occupational safety risks during the construction and to dust emissions during the loading and unloading of grains and sugars. There will be some air emission sources associated with heat generation for grain drying. The company will need to develop and implement contractor management plans for the construction phase and the project design will include dust suppression measures. Dust abatement and temperature monitoring technology will also be used to manage fire and explosion risks.”