EBRD signs agreement with furniture manufacturer from Azerbaijan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a $12 million loan to Azerbaijan's largest furniture manufacturer to finance further improvements in its production facilities, EBRD's Baku office reported in its statement released on Monday."The proceeds of the EBRD loan will be used to finance the quality control of its production facilities in order to maintain high standards throughout all entities. Part of the loan will also be used for Energy Efficiency improvements throughout all its three production units," Trend quotes the statement.Embawood is the largest manufacturer and retailer of home and office furniture in Azerbaijan. It owns a total of seven factories, with three located in Azerbaijan and four– outside the country. Embawood is represented in ten countries via a retail trade network of around 200 shops.Embawood has been an EBRD client since 2003, through EBRD's BAS (Business Advisory Services) and TAM (Turn Around Management) programmes, helping the company in the areas of corporate governance, financial management, quality control and health and safety.The EBRD loan has also been complemented by EUR 120,000 Technical Cooperation funds from the Early Transition Countries Initiative and the Regional Energy Efficiency Programme for the Corporate Sector."We are pleased to expand our cooperation with Embawood helping to further strengthen the company's operations. We are especially glad to support the efforts of our client to control the quality of its production and to make its facilities more energy efficient by upgrading its facilities. This is a further demonstration of the company's commitment to quality, good corporate governance and social responsibility," Trend quotes Olivier Descamps, EBRD Managing Director for Turkey, Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia.EBRD has signed 131 investments worth more than USD 2.1 billion in various sectors of the Azerbaijani economy. The growing manufacturing and services sector offers several opportunities for the Bank to reduce the country's reliance on oil and gas revenues by promoting its economic diversification – one of EBRD's priorities in Azerbaijan.