Plantations, poverty and power - Critical Information Collective

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•In December 2000, IFC approved a loan for Unicell Paper Mills Caribbean’s 20,000 tons per year tissue
paper mill in Trinidad and Tobago. 526
•In June 2003, IFC approved a loan for the expansion of Intercell’s pulp and paper mill at Ostrolenka in
north-east Poland and the construction of a sack manufacturing factory near Moscow. 527
•In July 2003, IFC agreed a US$75 million loan as part of a US$216 million refinancing and debt
package to Copamex, Mexico’s leading paper producer. 528
•In June 2004, IFC agreed to finance the expansion of Carvajal’s pulp and paper operations in
Colombia. 529
•In July 2004, Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills secured a US$35 million loan from IFC to upgrade its pulp
and paper operations in and near Rajahmundry. IFC also bought US$5 million in shares in the
company. 530
•In May 2005, IFC signed a US$1.4 million loan with Altyn Ajydar in Kyrgyzstan for renovations to its
corrugated cardboard packaging operations. In 1999, Altyn Ajydar received another IFC loan to upgrade
its packaging and printing plant. 531
•In June 2005, IFC approved US$10 million in loans and equity and a US$25 million guarantee to
Packages of Pakistan for a new pulp and paper plant at Kasur. Packages has been an IFC client since
1964. Packages is partly owned by Stora Enso and produces pulp from straw. In 1995, IFC gave a
US$37.5 million loan to expand Packages’ pulp and paper capacity. 532
•In November 2006, IFC approved a US$170 million loan to Botnia to build a US$1.2 billion pulp mill
in Uruguay. 533 The pulp mill led to massive protests in Argentina and Uruguay. The company’s
plantations have dried up water supplies for local people and destroyed their previous livelihoods. (See
section on Botnia, above.)
As well as supporting individual pulp and paper projects, IFC also promotes the expansion of the industry
by financing plans at a national level. In May 2007, for example, IFC held a seminar to announce the
results of a “strategic development plan” for Ukraine’s pulp and paper industry. The plan was carried out
by Pöyry Forest Industry Consulting and financed by IFC, the Association of Ukrainian Enterprises of
Pulp and Paper Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.
Pöyry’s study projects five per cent growth in paper consumption in Ukraine and puts forward an
526 “Unicell Paper Mills Caribbean Ltd. (UPMCL) project number 10168”, IFC Environmental Review Summary, 14
July 2000. http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/spiwebsite1.nsf/0/8854C6741EB613CE8525691C005599E8opendocument
527 “Intercell-expan. project number 20601”, IFC Environmental Review Summary, 5 May 2003.
http://www.ifc.org/IFCExt/spiwebsite1.nsf/0/11434b54bdbde63285256d1d0073d7b5OpenDocument
528 “IFC to invest $216 million in Copamex as part of a refinancing program”, IFC press release, 1 July 2003.
http://ifcln001.worldbank.org/IFCExt/pressroom/IFCPressRoom.nsf/SearchView/8421CAFE2C54A6CB85256D56005B3
AC4/OpenDocument
529 “Carvajal bags IFC financing for expansion”, Paperloop, 22 July 2004.
http://www.paperloop.com/db_area/archive/pponews/2004/wk07_19_2004/60_key.html
530 “Andhra Pradesh gets all-clear for investment scheme”, Paperloop, 6 July 2004.
http://www.paperloop.com/db_area/archive/pponews/2004/wk07_05_2004/23_key.html
531 “IFC signs loan for expansion of Kyrgyz packaging producer”, Paperloop, 25 May 2005.
http://www.paperloop.com/inside/stories/wk05_30_2005/08.html
532 “Packages of Pakistan seeks funds for expansion”, Paperloop, 4 March 2005.
“Packages, project number 23526”, IFC Summary of Project Information.
http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/spiwebsite1.nsf/0/0a0440258100418385256fb7005e800dOpenDocument
533 “IFC and MIGA Board Approves Orion Pulp Mill in Uruguay: 2,500 Jobs to Be Created, No Environmental Harm”,
IFC press release 21 November 2006.
http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/LAC.nsf/Content/SelectedPROpenDocument&UNID=F76F15A5FE7735918525722D0058F472