Preliminary preparation of the loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on the project for upgrading water treatment plant in Yalta has entered its final stage. This was discussed during the meeting between Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the ARC - Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the ARC, Ekaterina Yurchenko with representatives of the EBRD.

 

 

   As the director of the Agency for Regional Development of the ARC, Starodubov Alexey noted, to date, within the work on a project to upgrade water treatment plant in Yalta there were basic credit terms negotiated, financial analysis and technical studies for the water treatment plant were conducted, repayment of the loan on time was explored. Also, the model of loan agreement implementation, the main participants in its preparation and the preliminary model of guaranteeing loan repayment were defined.

 

   EBRD Principal Banker Denis Gaevoi reported that the loan is planned to be provided for a period of 13 years at a floating rate – from 4% to 6%. According to him, such a lending model is standard for all European EBRD projects in Ukraine. The rate will depend on the credit rating of the ARC. "As the credit rating being increased, interest rate will be reduced, thus improving credit conditions", - said the representative of the EBRD.

 

   Also, during the meeting the sides discussed the projects that are planned to be financed by EBRD’s loan amounting to 10 million EUR and a grant from the Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA) - 5 million euros. About 85 million euros are necessary to upgrade water treatment plant in Yalta in total by estimates of the consultancy firm COWI.

 

 

   By the results of the discussion, there was decided to hold a further meeting for selection of projects to be included in the first stage of the utility modernization in early 2012. After improvement projects will be forwarded for approval to the credit committee of the EBRD’s and SIDA.