ERG Signs Funding Deal With Mercuria To Develop African Assets

Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), led by Shukhrat Ibragimov, one of Kazakhstan’s wealthiest businessmen, has signed a three-year financing agreement with the Swiss trading company Mercuria Energy Group, Orda.kz reports.

According to Bloomberg, the deal will provide ERG with up to $100 million to support its mining projects in Africa, primarily focused on copper production in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Mercuria, which has been expanding its investments in non-ferrous metals, reported that its metals trading division boosted profits by nearly $300 million this year.

This project will strengthen ERG’s asset development in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region of increasing strategic interest to Mercuria,said Costas Bintas, Head of Metals and Minerals Trading at Mercuria Energy Group.

For Luxembourg-registered ERG, 40% owned by the Kazakh government, the agreement represents an opportunity to accelerate growth in its African portfolio, which had previously been slowed by arbitration with the Congolese state-owned mining company Gecamines.

The DRC hosts some of the world’s largest copper and cobalt deposits.

This agreement is an important milestone in deepening our collaboration with global partners. We are working to fully realize the potential of our core operations in the DRC, emphasized ERG General Director Shukhrat Ibragimov.

Earlier this month, one of Mercuria’s subsidiaries signed a cooperation deal with Gecamines to market its share of production from joint copper and cobalt ventures.

ERG also reached an agreement with Gecamines in September, resolving a long-standing dispute that began in 2023 when the Congolese company attempted to buy out ERG’s assets in the republic and cancelled the creation of the Swanmines joint venture at the Kalukundi copper-cobalt deposit.

The conflict led to international arbitration.

Shukhrat Ibragimov, who serves as ERG’s general director and Chair of the Board, is one of Kazakhstan’s richest businessmen. His family ranks seventh on Forbes’ national list, with an estimated net worth exceeding $2 billion.

Earlier this year, Orda.kz reported that Ibragimov had become Chair of the Board of Directors of Eurasian Bank. Soon after his appointment, the bank announced plans to repurchase 30 billion tenge in bonds issued under its financial stability program.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny