June 5 – The Ferfina Group promotes infrastructure building in Algeria. In fact, the company has won a contract set by ANESRIF, the public agency of the Ministry of Transport, for the construction of a railway line in the North African country. SACE and a syndicate of banks led by Bank Ubae have granted to the Italian Society for Condotte d’Acqua S.p.A. – Condotte – of the Ferfina Group a credit line of €50 million in support of the order. The project is worth a total of €1.4 billion and it will be carried out created by Condotte in a joint venture with another business operator. It involves the construction of a 130 kilometers double-track electrified railway line between Tlelat and Tlemcen in the northwest of the country, near the border with Morocco. The project includes the construction of the line, of its related works (including 31 bridges and viaducts, and three tunnels) and the rehabilitation of three railway stations. In the operation, SACE assured Condotte against the risk of non-payment, allowing the company to obtain credit from the banking system through an innovative scheme. For the first time, the operation involves discounting a nonrecourse loan from a syndicate of banks, including Bank is Ubae (agent and leader) and Banca Popolare di Vicenza, Banca Popolare dell’Etruria e del Lazio, and Gruppo Banca popolare dell’Emilia Romagna through EMRO Finance Ireland Limited.
