Fortress Paper’s Durasafe Banknote Substrate Used in Kazakhstan's New Currency

 

Fortress Paper Ltd., North Vancouver, B.C., Canada, this week announced that the National Bank of Kazakhstan has issued the 20,000 Tenge note as legal tender in Kazakhstan commencing Dec. 1, 2015. Fortress Paper is the supplier of the Durasafe® high performance banknote substrate used for this note, manufactured at its Landqart Mill in Switzerland.

Yvon Pelletier, CEO of Fortress Paper, commented that "the National Bank of Kazakhstan’s decision to issue the 20,000 Tenge note on Durasafe for use as legal tender further validates the commercial viability of the substrate. We believe that the commercial release of Durasafe notes in Kazakhstan will create further interest for the banknote substrate from other national banks worldwide."

Durasafe is an innovative composite paper-polymer-paper banknote substrate developed by the company’s Swiss security paper manufacturer, Landqart AG, in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich. Durasafe is composed of two cotton paper outer layers with a fully transparent polymer core. The polymer core in Durasafe adds stability and higher mechanical strength properties to banknotes as well as high security features. The substrate’s unique properties allow windows to be formed virtually anywhere on the banknote and can contain a watermark and security fibers as well as traditional security features, and maintains the easy to recognize tactility of banknote paper.