The Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) has secured a €124.6m credit facility from the Russian development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) in order to finance the construction and launch of the Express-AM7 satellite.
The satellite is currently…
The Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) has secured a €124.6m credit facility from the Russian development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) in order to finance the construction and launch of the Express-AM7 satellite.
The satellite is currently being constructed by EADS Astrium as part of a two satellite order alongside Express-AM4R and is due to be launched to 40E in 2014. The Russian satellite operator told SatelliteFinance that the loan, which will have a tenor of 7.75 years, is guaranteed by the French export credit agency Coface as part of the Astrium order.
An RSCC spokesman added that the company plans to secure similar loans in order to finance the company’s planned nine-satellite expansion strategy.
Based on the Eurostar E3000 platform, AM7 will boast 62 transponders (24 in C-band, 36 in Ku-band, and two in L-band). As well as traditional video services, RSCC plans to use the satellites for multi-usage applications and VSAT-based networks.
The satellite project is being handled under the Russian Federal Space Program for 2006 – 2015 and is estimated to cost a total of Rbs8.3bn (US$255m).
Commenting on the deal, RSCC director-general Yuri Prokhorov said, “The signing of the credit agreement has resulted from a great deal of painstaking efforts that both our organizations have mounted in order to implement the tasks set by the Government Committee on Transport and Communications.
“We are convinced that Vnesheconombank’s participation in the renovation of the RSCC satellite constellation will contribute to a successful implementation of infrastructural projects in the interests of the state and social and economic programs, using the assets of new Russian communications and broadcasting satellites that are currently worked by RSCC.”
Formed in 2007, VEB was the result of the Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of the USSR. The bank’s central role is to implement state economic policy that is primarily focused on removing infrastructure restrictions on economic growth, enhancing natural resources utilization efficiency and developing high-tech industries. Under its Memorandum on Financial Policies, rocket and space projects are part of the bank’s key investment activity priorities for 2007-2013.
