SEF Asia Granite Processing Project Summary Of Project Information (SPI)       Project Name:    Uzbekistan: Asia Granite Processing Project      Region:Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa    Sector:   Project No:009582   Projected Board Date:June 15, 1999   Company Name:Asia Granite   Technical Partner and/or Major Shareholders    	The Project will be owned and operated by Asia Granite (the Company). The company will be a joint venture between Strokiomplect Service Limited (SKS) and Podemnik Joint Stock Company (Podemnik) with 53% and 47% of the shares respectively. SKS is an established local marble processing company and will manage the Project. Podemnik will contribute in-kind assets comprising land, building and associated infrastructure and will be a passive partner.    Project Cost Including proposed IFC investment    	Estimated Project Cost: US$7 million   IFC is expected to provide an SEF loan of US$ 2.5 million      Location of project and Description of site    	The project is to be located in Tashkent City. The project will be housed in a building constructed in 1996, with a covered area of 7,500 square meters and 8,500 square meters of adjoining land. The facility also includes a water filter plant with a capacity of 200 cubic meters. The facility also has access to a railroad spur to be used for delivery of raw materials.     Description of Company and Purpose of Project    	The project involves setting up a granite processing plant in an existing building in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The project is expected to produce 45,000 square meters per year of granite tiles plus 2,000 linear meters per year of granite slabs used for flooring, cladding and staircases. 60% production from the granite plant is expected to be sold domestically, while the remaining 40% is to be exported.    The project will improve and enhance local production capacities of the construction industry and bring them to international standard. Indigenous production of granite tiles and slabs will add value to local raw materials, will substitute for imports, earn foreign exchange through exports and will provide employment to 38 people.     Environmental Category and Issues    	This is a category B project. Environmental and social key issues include: raw materials source, site location and land use; air emissions; wastewater effluents; solid waste management; fuel storage and handling; fire protection and emergency response; and general worker health and safety.  All process activities emitting dust will be performed under wet conditions to minimize the generation of air emissions.  In addition, Asia Granite will also install indoor dust filters and will perform periodic monitoring of the workplace air quality. All process waters generated will be filtered and recirculated back into the process and the domestic waters will be collected and sent to the local authorities for treatment. Industrial solid residues will be sold for reuse. Non recyclable residues will be transported and appropriately disposed. There will be a responsible in charge of implementing the environmental, health and safety measures and of establishing Fire Safety and Occupational Health and Safety programs.  Based on its review of available information regarding potential environmental impacts and proposed mitigation measures, IFC concludes that the proposed project is being designed to meet Government of Uzbekistan requirements, and World Bank policies, and environmental, health and safety guidelines.    The  is  from the InfoShop.        Date SPI sent to InfoShop:     May 11, 1999      This Summary of Project Information is prepared and distributed to the public in advance of consideration of the proposed transaction by the Corporations Board of Directors.  It is provided for the purpose of enhancing the transparency of IFCs activities and should not be construed as presuming the outcome of IFC Board consideration.    For Additional Information contact: Corporate Relations Unit -   telephone: (202) 473-7711   facsimile: (202) 974-4384  Environmental documents for this project are available at http://www.ifc.org and from the World Bank InfoShop (http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/aboutinfo.html).