By  Trend

Kazakhstan and China have agreed to extend the maturity period of the loan provided by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for the acquisition of a stake in "KMG Kashagan B.V." by the Kazakhstan National Welfare Fund "Samruk-Kazyna" until 2022, the Fund said in a statement.

The relevant agreement was reached during the meeting of the Chairman of the Board of the National Welfare Fund "Samruk-Kazyna" Akhmetzhan Yessimov with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ICBC Yi Huiman.

Yessimov also agreed to reduce the interest rate on the loan.

In addition, the parties signed a Memorandum of cooperation and discussed further prospects.

Huiman noted that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is interested in cooperation in three areas: placement of bonds, participation in the program of privatization of the Fund's assets, as a strategic investor and financing of specific projects.

In 2015 the "National Welfare Fund "Samruk-Kazyna" Joint-Stock Company (JSC) has attracted a five-year syndicated loan to finance the acquisition of 25 percent of the shares of Private Limited Liability Company "KMG Kashagan B.V." in the amount of $1.5 billion, in which ICBC acted as the authorized representative of one of the leading arrangers of the financing.