Short-list of four for Electrocentrale loan

Electrical and thermal power supplier Electrocentrale Bucharest has received bids from 14 banks for a loan of $60 million. Bids by the HVB and Alpha Bank consortium, Citibank, ABN Amro and Depfa Bank were short-listed, sources close to the deal say. The funding will be state-secured and will be used to complement the funds required for purchasing both domestically and internationally produced energy resources. The loan will act more as a “safety net, as Electrocentrale already has enough resources of its own to make the necessary fuel acquisitions,” company sources explained. According to the latest information, Electrocentrale Bucharest will have the choice to repay the loan in two years’ time with a six-month grace period. It is now in talks with representatives of the short-listed banks. As a result, the company will be borrowing less than it did last year, when it took out approximately $160 million in loans. ZF