Export Development Canada (EDC) has signed an agreement to finance RTK-Leasing of Russia for the purchase of CDMA telecommunications network equipment and related services from Brampton, Ont.-based Nortel Networks Ltd.
Under the agreement, EDC will provide funding for up to USD $10 million.
RTK-Leasing, a company’s that active in the Russian telecommunications sector, will purchase Nortel’s technology and lease it to cellular operator Uralwestcom, a 100-percent-owned subsidiary of RTDC, a US corporation primarily focused on development in the IT and telecommunications sectors in Russia and other countries.
Nortel’s CDMA technology will be used to enhance Uralwestcom’s current service with the addition in early 2005 of mobile broadband wireless service to subscribers in the Sverdlovsk region under the Sky Link brand.
“The Russian telecommunications market is increasingly competitive,” said Eric Siegel, EDC Executive vice-president, medium- and long-term financial services. “Providing attractive financing terms to Russian buyers is essential for success in this marketplace, and EDC is pleased to fill this trade need for Canadian exporters such as Nortel.”
Canadian exporters and investors are providing products and services to meet growing opportunities within Russia, as evidenced by the rapidly increasing volume of business in Russia supported by EDC.
From just over Can$ 4 million in 2002 and $ 16 million in 2003, EDC’s volume of business in Russia exceeded $ 133 million in 2004.
EDC is beefing up its support Canadian businesses active in various sectors of the Russian market, and is forging partnerships with targeted Russian organizations – corporations and financial intermediaries – to facilitate procurement from Canada.