Prista Oil Group B.V. is seeking a 65.5 million (U.S. $90.3 million) loan to fund a multi-pronged expansion that would include establishment of a quick-lube chain, new lubricant filling lines and a production plant for automotive coolants and brake fluids.
Officials from the Sofia, Bulgaria-based company said they are optimistic about obtaining the loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
I am positive once we have [satisfied] the due diligence of a most reputable and conservative financial institution like EBRD it will be far more marketable to realize and finalize the strategy of Prista Oil in all Central and Eastern European countries and Turkey, Chairman and CEO Plamen Bobokov said in a written statement.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was formed in 1991 to facilitate economic development in Central and Eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Owned by the European Community, the European Investment Bank and the governments of 61 nations, it provides loans and consulting services for projects in 29 countries.
Prista says it would use part of the loan to establish a network of branded and non-branded oil change centers in Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey. Other funds would pay for sophisticated equipment to install greases at Pristas affiliate, Verila Lubricants, in Sofia, and for a plant to make coolants and brake fluids at the same location.
Prista would also upgrade a lubricant bottling line at its primary blending plant in Ruse, Bulgaria. Finally, some funding would pay for special de-oiling equipment to improve production of emulsions at Bogdany Petrol, Pristas affiliate in Nyrbogdny, Hungary.