The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will lend 25 million euros to Sojaprotein, with the aim of strengthening Serbia’s agribusiness potential, and in addition to the EBRD, Raiffeisen Bank will provide a loan of equal size as part of the project, the statement said.
Sojaprotein will use EBRD financing to expand production facilities, as well as to refinance debt.
Market demand for soy-based ingredients is expected to continue to increase due to higher consumer demand for herbal alternatives to meat products, and the company is in a good position to capitalize on such growth.
Sojaprotein manages the largest soybean processing plant in Serbia, with a capacity of 250,000 tons per year.
Agrokompanija is a subsidiary of the Serbian agribusiness company Victoria Group, which was recently bought by MK Group, a long-term partner of the EBRD.
MK Group, which was founded more than 35 years ago, employs over 7,000 people and is the leading agribusiness group in Southeast Europe. EBRD financing will support MK Group to further develop its production capacity and exports.
The EBRD is the leading institutional investor in Serbia. To date, the bank has invested more than 6.3 billion euros in 277 projects in the country.
In 2020 alone, the bank has invested 480 million euros in 26 projects in Serbia, Nova Ekonomija reports.
