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IFC published the final Cumulative Impact Study regarding Botnia's Fray Bentos project

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Botnia has applied for part of the financing for its pulp mill being built in
Fray Bentos, Uruguay from World Bank's private funding arm IFC (International
Finance Corporation). In addition to several studies made for Botnia, IFC has
commissioned its own study (CIS=Cumulative Impact Study) on the cumulative
impacts of Botnia's and ENCE's mills. Both mills were planned to be built in
Fray Bentos, but in September ENCE announced that it will withdraw from Fray
Bentos and plans to build the mill somewhere else in Uruguay. 

After several stages, the cumulative impact study has now been finalised and
the final report published by the IFC. 

The final CIS confirms the main findings of previous studies and confirms that
the planned mills do not compromise the surrounding environment. The positive
socioeconomic and employment impacts in the area are significant, and the
project contributes to the further development of Uruguay. 

The CIS clearly states that the mills will be implementing BAT, would be
accepted in Canada, USA and Europe and are “likely to perform better than any
of their (the companies') existing mills with respect to environmental
performance”. Botnia's existing mills in Finland already operate under highest
environmental standards in the world. 

“We are pleased that IFC has finalised the CIS which clearly confirms the
results of all previous studies”, says Ville Jaakonsalo, Senior Vice President,
Finance. “We are awaiting for the decision of IFC. We must, however, keep in
mind that even though the IFC loan will only cover a small part of the
project's total investment cost, IFC plays an important role in the project
financing.” 

For additional information please contact:

Mr. Marko Janhunen, Vice President, Communications and Public Relations,
Uruguay-project, tel. +358 50 5900047 

For a copy of the cumulative impact study and for more information please visit
IFC's website at http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/lac.nsf/content/Uruguay_Pulp_Mills 

Appendix: CIS summary





                                            

                

            

        

    

    



    

        
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