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EBRD signs first energy loan for FYR Macedonia
Energy supplies to the capital city of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will be vastly improved due to a loan agreement signed today between Elektrostopanstvo na Makedonija (the national power utility) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Minister Dr. Jane Miljovski, who was in London for the signing, said "The country's electricity supply will become more reliable and more efficient due to EBRD's investment. This will have a direct impact on the people living and working in the capital."
The loan agreement, EBRD's first in FYR Macedonia, is for DEM 46.5 million of which DEM 38.4 million will finance the construction of a 113.5km transmission line between Bitola Thermal Power Station and Skopje, the main industrial centre. The remaining DEM 8.1 million will be used to support the Government's Energy Conservation Programme. The FYR Macedonia will act as guarantor.
Mario Sarcinelli, Vice President at the EBRD, said, "By reducing transmission losses and ensuring better supply, the Government can reduce expensive energy imports, thereby saving its foreign exchange reserves."
The Government's Energy Conservation Programme promotes efficient energy use and provides financing to enterprises identified as candidates for restructuring and privatisation.
FYR Macedonia currently has a high consumption of energy per unit of GNP, heavy reliance on domestic coal for electricity production and total dependence on imports for oil requirements.
Bitola is the country's main coal-fired power station, representing 47 percent of the country's installed capacity. It is linked to the national power grid by one high voltage connection which is in poor condition and vulnerable to faults. Other forms of energy, such as hydro-electric power, satisfy a certain amount of the country's needs but only at certain periods of the year. The oil-fired power stations have been closed due to high import costs.
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