Standard Bank Group awarded for natural resource expertise

Standard Bank was awarded for:

• Nord Stream (phase one): Standard Bank was a top tier mandated lead arranger for a €5.2 billion project to build a 1,220km pipeline through the Baltic Sea, from Portovaya Bay in Russia to Greifswald Germany.
  
• Eurochem: Standard Bank was a joint mandated lead arranger and advanced US$55m to Eurochem for an export finance tranche of funding for the development of its Potash mine located in the Volgograd region in Russia. This deal was supported by the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa.

Don Hultman, head of the mining, energy and infrastructure finance team at Standard Bank Group said: "The awards are testament to Standard Bank Group's extensive capabilities in the natural resources sector and showcase our experience in advising clients on deals across sectors. For instance, we were able to add considerable insight with the Nord Stream deal, based on comprehensive knowledge of the infrastructure and oil and gas sectors."

Continued Hultman: "Standard Bank Group's longstanding African footprint, expertise and heritage enables us to link our African clients to opportunities in other emerging markets. This was certainly the case with the Eurochem transaction, where we were able to jointly arrange export credit finance for one of our South African clients undertaking underground mining work for Eurochem's Russian potash project. We see this deal as a benchmark for future transactions that involve South African Exporters of capital goods and services into Russia."

The awards will be presented on 28 June 2011 at the Trade Finance Magazine Global Awards dinner in London.