ASTANA (TCA) — British CPL Industries Group Ltd. has expressed interest in the business development of smokeless fuels in Kazakhstan and is considering investing in the construction of a plant to manufacture fuel briquettes in the territory of Kazakhstan. This was discussed at a meeting of Saparbek Tuyakbaev, the Chairman of the Board of Kazakh Invest national investment support and promotion company, and Rob Kendall, the CEO of CPL Industries Group Ltd., on October 9 in Astana. During the meeting British businessmen presented advanced technologies in the sphere of renewable fuels, Kazakh Invest reported.
For further implementation of this project, a memorandum between Kazakh Invest and CPL Industries Group will be signed in the near future. Production of the future plant is planned to be exported to CIS countries.
CPL Industries Group Ltd is the leading manufacturer of smokeless fuel for household consumption in Europe. The company was founded in 1973 as part of the British Coal Corporation. Current annual production at the plant in Immingham (United Kingdom) is 350 thousand tons. The new plant in Foynes (Ireland) also has the capacity of 350 thousand tons. CPL also carries out large-scale activities in the field of renewable fuels, including the reprocessing of carbohydrate products from wood, mixed fuel.
Tuyakbayev remarked that the UK is among the top 10 trading partners by volume of trade, and also is among the six largest investors of Kazakhstan, accounting for almost 5% of the total volume of attracted foreign investments. Trade between Kazakhstan and Great Britain in 2017 increased by 1.5% to $1.28 billion. For the first quarter of 2018, bilateral trade amounted to $252.6 million. More than 800 legal entities, branches and representative offices with British participation are registered in Kazakhstan.
