Bosnia's EPBiH signs framework deal with China's Exim Bank for Tuzla TPP unit construction

The deal was signed on the sidelines of the summit of the heads of government of 16 central and eastern European (CEE) countries and China in Riga, Latvia over the weekend.

The framework agreement paves the way towards the finalisation of the draft loan agreement for the construction project, Elektroprivreda BiH said in a statement.

EPBiH said earlier that it will finance 15% of the project, worth a total of 722 million euro ($798.6), while a loan from China's Ex-Im bank will cover the remaining 85%.

In 2014, Bosnia's Federation said it had selected a consortium of China's Gezhouba Group Company Limited and Gunagdong Electric Power Design Institute as the preferred bidder for the construction of Unit 7 at Tuzla coal-fired power plant

Little progress has been made on the project's implementation to date. However, in April Bosnia’s state-level government, the Council of Ministers, said it was ready to send a letter to the Chinese prime minister seeking his support.

According to Bosnian media reports, European Union credit institutions have declined to finance the project as it fails to meet the bloc's strict environmental requirements.  

The Federation is one of the two autonomous entities that form Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Serb Republic.

($= 0.904192 euro)