BELGRADE (Serbia), December 9 (SeeNews) – The Serbian government said it has signed a $344 million (259.3 million euro) deal for the upgrade of its Kostolac B thermal power plant with the China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corp (CMEC).
The agreement was inked by Dragomir Markovic, CEO of Kostolac B state-controlled owner Elektroprivreda Srbije, the CMEC representative in Serbia, Jin Chunsheng, and CEO of Termoelektrane Kostolac Dragan Jovanovic, the government said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The deal covers the upgrade of the power plant's Kostolac B1 and B2 units and their retrofitting with desulphurisation equipment and related infrastructure, Serbian Energy Minister Petar Skundric was quoted as telling a news conference after the signing ceremony.
Now that pen has been put to paper, China's Ex-Im Bank is expected to approve the loan financing for the project within the next two to three months, Markovic said in the statement.
He added that the upgrade should be completed within 30 months after the credit is made available and that the second phase of the modernisation of the power complex - which will cover the upgrade of the Drmno open-pit coal mine and the construction of a new thermal power unit, is expected to get underway in 2014.
The Drmno coal mine is part of thermal power complex Termoelektrane Kostolac, which also comprises the Kostolac A and Kostolac B power plants.
($=0.7539 euro)