100m euros for Hidroelectrica

Banca Comerciala Romana (Romanian Commercial Bank – BCR) along with a series of banks will grant Hidroelectrica an 100 million euro loan to fund the energy projects on the Jiu River, chief executive Traian Oprea on Thursday said. “This will be a syndicated loan, 30-35 million euros of which will come from BCR, with Hidroelectrica’s power supplying contracts as collateral. The loan will not be secured by the State,” Oprea said. He added the signing was expected for some time in the next few weeks. A consortium headed by Romelectro will build two hydropower plants and a dam on the Bumbesti-Livezeni section of the Jiu River, under a 92 million euro contract concluded early in the year. The works are scheduled for completion by the end of 2008. Oprea said Hidroelectrica had made 370bn ROL profit in the first four months, due to good hydrological conditions. It had posted losses of more than 3,600bn ROL in 2003 as the drought had forced it to slow down production and buy power from other producers. ZF