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FAMUR and Polish Development Fund set up strategic mining investment vehicle

Posted on 1 Dec 2017

On November 30, FAMUR SA and the Polish Development Fund (Polski Fundusz Rozwoju – PFR) signed an agreement of common investment in the company Mining Equipment Finance Spzoo. The main business area of the FAMUR Group company is to finance strategic investments in terms of modernisation of the mining and power energy sectors.

These investments are implemented by domestic mining companies. Indirectly, the project will contribute to accelerate and strengthen the growth rate of the efficiency and safety of raw materials extraction in Poland.

“One of the foundations for our economy development is reindustrialisation, understood as creating and strengthening the future industry in Poland. We should not waste any more development opportunities, that is why we create very specific solutions, impulses that will help to make best use of these opportunities. Modern technologies, such as robotics and automation, can make today’s heavy industry to be lighter; to improve its efficiency, to increase the number of possible applications or to make it more flexible during the process of market expansion” – says Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Development and Finance Mateusz Morawiecki.

“The cooperation between the FAMUR Group and Polish Development Fund is a combination of the active company force with the flagship development institution of the increasingly enterprising state. The domestic sector of mining machinery and equipment may become one of the world champions over a span of several years, and FAMUR, by adapting its offer to the realities of the Industry 4.0, has the opportunity to effectively compete with the largest global players,” adds Deputy Minister of Development Jadwiga Emilewicz.

“The extensive portfolio of technologically advanced machines and modern solutions have enabled the FAMUR Group to be a significant partner in the process of the mining industry modernisation in Poland for many years. Through the collaboration with the Polish Development Fund we are gaining a new tool within financial processing of significant investment projects in the mining and power sectors. We believe that it will have a positive impact on the pace of modernization of domestic mining companies,” says Mirosław Bendzera, CEO of FAMUR. “Our intention is to increase efficiency and safety, as well as to support R&D activities and innovation implementations in the industry” – he adds.

“Through the integration of FAMUR and Kopex, a strong company with leading position on the international mining machinery market has been created. The PFR Group is interested in supporting such dynamically growing companies in their international expansion. The joint project of FAMUR and Polish Development Fund is intended to build innovative and convenient forms of financing for customers of mining machinery investments, and the Polish sector may also benefit from it,” says Paweł Borys, President of the Management Board of Polish Development Fund.

The project consists in collaboration between FAMUR and PFR in terms of providing and financing the mining machines produced by FAMUR, through the Mining Equipment Finance special purpose vehicle.

“Today’s transaction is the beginning of cooperation between Polish Development Fund and a leading producer of mining machinery on the Polish market (FAMUR). We believe that our cooperation will contribute to the creation of the first Polish industrial group with a strong position on the global markets” – says Marcin Piasecki, Vice-President of Polish Development Fund in charge of investments.

Pursuant to the agreement, FAMUR and Polish Development Fund will participate in financing projects launched within the company, and each involvement of funds will require the consent of the Supervisory Board to be composed of representatives of the two investors.

“The paradigm of the current economic model and the stable economic growth is the cooperation of state institutions and private entrepreneurs. Opening a new area of joint activity by FAMUR and PFR is compliant with the assumptions of the Plan of Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and will allow for significant acceleration of investments in mining and power sectors; and thus, also for implementing one of the elements of the long-term vision of Poland’s development,” believes Mirosław Bendzera.

”Increasing emphasis on the innovation development and consequently the transformation of the mining industry towards a diversified, technologically advanced Industry 4.0 is one of the most important areas we intend to support,” sums up Mirosław Bendzera.