09 September 2021 News The Russian Environmental Operator will invest 6 billion rubles in the creation of 13 facilities in 11 Russian regions in 2021. When implementing these investment projects, a new measure of state support, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation on June 22, will be applied: the redemption of bonds. These facilities will be commissioned in 2022-2023. "This is one of the steps to expand support measures, which we will direct to create capacities for waste processing, development of the MSW management system. Initially, the measures were not effective, in fact they were limited to entering the authorized capital of enterprises. A new instrument will be the redemption of bonds. In practice this is repayable financing for the creation of infrastructure for waste management. In the future, we consider preferential leasing of equipment, and reimbursement of part of the cost of a bank guarantee, etc. as supportive measures. New support mechanisms for a developing industry should give the necessary impetus," - Victoria Abramchenko commented. "In 2021, we will support 13 projects in 11 regions of the Russian Federation. The facilities themselves will be commissioned in 2022-2023. Redemption of bonds is a marketable support tool that allows you to create comfortable conditions for participation in projects, on the part of private investors, and by the financial institutions and REO as a development institution," - Denis Butsaev, Director General of REO. REO will invest 6 billion rubles to create facilities for processing and recycling of 4 million tons of waste per year. The total capital costs for these investment projects will amount to 28 billion rubles. The commissioning of these projects will take place within two years. Implementing these projects of REO at the expense of a subsidy, provided to it from the federal budget in the form of a property contribution, will redeem the bonds of investors for the specified amount. The allocated state funds are returnable. This means that after the money from one project is returned to REO, they will be reinvested by the company in the waste management industry for new projects on the same conditions. Expert Opinion "We were all really looking forward to this amendment, now our projects in the field of waste management have really good prospects in terms of financing. REO is a specialized development institution in the field of waste management, professionals working there are experts in the field. All of our projects are appreciated at their true worth, undergo quick approval, receive methodological and organizational support for financing. I am sure that the launch of such an instrument as a bonded loan will significantly expand the investment opportunities of both REO itself and potential investors," - said Igor Pikalov, General Director of IF Terrikon (a major investor in infrastructure facilities for MSW management). "Thanks to the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, operators will receive a real instrument of support in the implementation of projects, without which the further development of the waste management industry is impossible. State support measures will also help reduce the social burden on the population, avoid tariff increases and, of course, will push the waste management industry itself towards achieving the goals of the National Project “Ecology”, on which the well-being and health of the country's residents depends," - says Elena Vishnyakova, Deputy General Director of EcoLine Group. "In my opinion, new measures to support market participants from REO through the redemption of bonds of companies that invest in the MSW management sector can become drivers for creation of a modern infrastructure in the industry, and also a source of stimulating deeper ESG transformation processes, which in itself is quite complex," - says Svetlana Bik, head of the expert analytical platform Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Finance, Director for Sustainable Development of Citymatic. "Additional support measures for the construction of waste management infrastructure is a big plus. Today, the entire load is either on residents, or necessary facilities are not being built. The use of public-private partnership tools and EPR system reform is a necessity to achieve ambitious goals to reduce the share of waste disposal and to increase the recycled volume of waste . I think that raising funds at 3% per annum is very attractive for investors. But how many investors will be able to take advantage of them depends on what requirements for projects will be presented by REO," - said the expert of ONF “Ecology” Alexander Kogan. As a reminder, on June 24 it became known that the establishment of the Government of the Russian Federation expanded the list of measures to support the MSW management industry. Now the Russian Environmental Operator will be able to finance the creation of facilities for processing and recycling of waste through the purchase of bonds.