Press Releases
U.S. Small Business Uses OPIC Loan to Provide Dome Technology to Russia
December 22, 2005
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A U.S. small business will use a loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to introduce air-supported dome technology to Russia, providing industries and municipalities in the country with an affordable option for recreational and industrial facilities, OPIC President and CEO Robert Mosbacher, Jr. announced today.
OPIC will provide a $1.95 million loan to a Russian subsidiary of IPD Sales and Marketing, a Missouri Limited Liability Company. IPD S&M's subsidiary, Air Structures American Technologies and Investment (ASATI) of Moscow will utilize the OPIC funding for establishment of a manufacturing facility in Obninsk, 40 miles southwest of Moscow. There ASATI Moscow will custom design, manufacture and assemble air-structure buildings for clients operating primarily in the sports/recreation, industrial/natural resources, agriculture, and construction applications sectors.
Among potential uses, the domed structures could serve to cover waste sites, in order to prevent the emission of harmful matter into the atmosphere. ASATI Moscow will employ major material-supplier networks and state-of-the-art equipment and machinery, making the manufacturing operation efficient and cost-effective.
The project will also generate a demonstration air-structure building, to be located in the Moscow Expo Center, and a design, sales, and administrative office in Moscow, as well as 20 local jobs.
Another American company is contributing to the project: Johnson Heater Corporation dba Johnson-MarCraft Inc., also a Missouri based Corporation, will sell air-handling equipment, a major component of air structure technology, to the operation.
"This project will improve Russia's physical infrastructure, through the introduction of multi-use and affordable domed structures, in the process transferring American technology and management standards and creating meaningful employment for Russians," Mosbacher said. "OPIC is pleased to work with a U.S. small business on a project with so many developmental benefits."
OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971. It helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to taxpayers.
OPIC's political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations worldwide. Over the agency's 33-year history, OPIC has supported $164 billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to generate more than 732,000 host-country jobs and $13 billion in host-government revenues. OPIC projects have also generated $69 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 264,000 American jobs.