December 23 (SeeNews) - Kosovo received on Wednesday a 33.5 million euro ($47.7 million) German financing to build a 400-kilovolt transmission line to link its power grid to that of neighbouring Albania, Reuters reported.
"Half of the 33.5 million euros will be as a grant from the government of Germany and the other half is a loan with very good terms," Reuters quoted Kosovo's economy and finance minister Ahmet Shala as saying.
This is Kosovo's first loan since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
The transmission line is expected to be finished in three years, Shala said after signing the deal with representatives of the German government and German state development bank KfW.
Both Albania and Kosovo suffer power shortages due to insufficient local production.
($ = 0.7016 euro)