July 10 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian maritime shipping company Navibulgar signed a $94 million (80.2 million euro) secured loan deal with the Export-Import Bank of China, which will be used to finance the construction of six bulk carriers, a video file posted by Bulgaria's prime minister Boyko Borissov shows.
The deal was signed following a meeting between prime minister Boyko Borissov with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang, the video posted on Borissov's official Facebook profile shows. The meeting of the two prime ministers took place before a summit in Sofia of leaders of China and countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the so called '16+1' format.
Last year, Navibulgar said it has signed a contract, worth over $100 million with one of the three largest Chinese shipyards to build six 45,000-deadweight tonnage (dwt) bulk carriers.
Each vessel will have a maximum draft of 10.80 m, a reinforced hull, and a propulsion mechanism for sailing in ice-covered waters such as the Baltic Sea, the Sea of Azov and Canada region, Navibulgar said at the time.
In 2008, Bulgarian-German consortium KG Maritime Shipping bought 70% of Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar) from the Bulgarian state and vowed to invest 780 million levs into the company within 10 years, aiming to make it the biggest maritime carrier in the Mediterranean area.
($ = 0.8534 euro)