SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), November 28 (SeeNews) – Bosnian power utility Elektroprivreda BiH [SAJ:JPESR] said it has signed a loan deal with China's Ex-Im Bank for the construction of a 450 MW unit at the existing Tuzla thermal power plant (TPP).
The total cost of the project is 722 million euro ($859.6 million), of which Ex-Im Bank will lend 613 million euro for a period of 20 years, with a five-year grace.
The loan agreement was signed on the sidelines of a meeting of heads of government of China and 16 central and eastern European (CEE) countries, or the 16+1 Summit, held in Budapest, Hungary, Elektroprivreda BiH said in a statement on Monday.
Bosnia's collective presidency has said that the cornerstone of the new 450 MW unit of Tuzla TPP could be laid at the end of November.
In 2014, Bosnia's Federation entity said it had selected a consortium of China's Gezhouba Group Company Limited and Gunagdong Electric Power Design Institute as the preferred bidder for the construction of Unit 7 at Tuzla TPP.
In November last year EPBiH said it had signed a framework deal for the construction of the unit with Ex-Im Bank. According to Bosnian media reports, European Union credit institutions have declined to finance the project as it fails to meet the bloc's strict environmental requirements.
The Federation is one of two autonomous entities that form Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Serb Republic.
($=0.8391 euro)