Slovenian port operator Luka Koper gets 36 mln euro EIB loan

The borrowed funds will be used to help finance a project for an extension of Pier I and further development of the container terminal, the port operator said in a statement.

In mid-2013, Luka Koper's supervisory board endorsed a 78 million euro project for the extension of Pier I to increase capacity at the container terminal by an additional 230,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year above the current 720,000 TEUs.

Thanks to the deepened seabed along the quayside of the container terminal - which is at the core of the company's development strategy - and because of the latest wave of integration between global container carriers, the port of Koper will be directly connected with the Far East by three - up from two at the moment, direct container lines from January 2015.

With the arrival of the new direct services, vessels with up to 10,000 TEU capacity will call  at Koper on regular basis.

In the future also larger vessels are expected, therefore the port's infrastructure and handling equipment needs to be adapted accordingly, Luka Koper said, adding that the preparation of the documentation related to the further extension of the container terminal quay is in progress.

The Slovenian port's container throughput recorded record-high levels in 2013, exceeding 600,000 TEUs.

($=0.8197 euro)