Germany assists FYR Macedonia hydropower and wind farms development with 60 million EUR loan

Germany has peldged to help the FYR Macedonia energy market through loans signed this week amounting to 60 million which will be placed though KfW bank. The loans will be used to fund rehabilitation of hydropower plants in Globocica, Tikves Vrutok, Raven, and Vrben Shpilje and the rest to build windmills in Bogdanci.

This a step ahead for the Government towards achieving the set targets for increased use of renewable energy sources, improve energy efficiency and reducing dependence on imported electricity energy said FYR Macedonia's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski after signing the agreements. The project for wind envisions a fleet of wind plants which will reach an annual production of 100 gigawatt hours.Bilateral cooperation between Germany and FYR Macedonia aims to improve economic and social development of FYR Macedonia. Today's event is one step in our joint efforts to improve the lives of citizens in FYR Macedonia, said German Ambassador Knotz. 

News source: Balkans.com link: article

Heaviest burden: consumers have 24bn euros to repay to banks

The monthly bank bill - the factor that distinguishes this crisis from the one shaking the economy a decade ago and is now giving the worst headaches to Romanians, comes to cover the exuberant consumer spending of the past years, which left consumers with a 24 billion-euro debt.

More than half of this debt is visible to the naked eye: 15 billion euros were spent on the 1 million new cars bought from 2005 through 2010, most of them paid for with loans.

Out of the total ongoing loans, four million are consumer loans, worth 71 billion RON (16.8 billion euros). In addition to that, almost two million are in form of credit card lines and 1.2 million in form of overdrafts, totalling 5 billion RON (a little over one billion euros) together.

Simple mortgage loans are found in 190,000 accounts, totalling 26 billion RON (6 billion euros). Romanians are paying 2.5 billion euros in interests on the loans they took from banks every year. Adding the instalments on the principal, the total spending with bank repayments amount to 5 billion euros a year.

"The current crisis has proven the unsustainable nature of the economic model based on aggressive non-governmental lending growth. Thus the crisis ended a time marked by profit rush and by taking on more and more risks," believes Nicolae Dardac, professor with the Currency department of the Academy of Economic Studies of Bucharest.

News source: ZF English link: article

EIB supports capacity increase of gas transmission network and RDI in automotive sector in Slovenia

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing two loans in Slovenia:

* EUR 100 million to finance investments aimed at increasing the capacity of the gas transmission  infrastructure to meet the growing demand for gas in the country and

* EUR 50 million to support projects of small and medium-sized companies in the automotive sector to develop components for new generations of energy efficient cars

Mr. Anton Rop, EIB Vice-President responsible for lending in Central Europe, including Slovenia, stated: “Both loans will support Slovenia’s efforts to upgrade the quality of the environment in the country by increasing the availability of cleaner energy resources such as gas and reducing emissions by using the new generation of more energy-efficient power-trains”. 

The loan of EUR 100 million will help to implement the 2010-2013 investment programme focused on upgrading the capacity of the existing gas transmission infrastructure to better meet the increase in gas demand. This involves the construction of some 235 km of pipelines and compression facilities across the country

The loan of EUR 50 million to the Slovene Export and Development Bank (SID) will co-finance small and medium-sized investments aimed at increasing the environmental sustainability and safety of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. This is expected to be achieved through the development of components or systems for new generations of energy-efficient power-trains, weight reduction or other means of reducing emissions from vehicles, or through active or passive safety systems.

This loan represents the continuation of the EIB’s successful cooperation with SID. In July 2009 the Bank provided a loan of EUR 380 million to SID. Part of this loan (EUR 80 million) focused on the development of new generation vehicle technology and car emissions reduction. It has been fully allocated to 19 projects.

News source: EIB link: article

Signing of minutes from negotiations of Serbia, Germany on development cooperation for 2010

Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic and Deputy Director General at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Ulla Mikota will sign minutes on negotiations of the governments of Germany and Serbia in the field of development cooperation for 2010 at 11.00 on 28 October at the government’s Press Room, Nemanjina 11.

The total value of Germany’s aid for 2010 is €123.65 million and will be used for realisation of projects in the years to come.  As part of bilateral development cooperation, Germany provides two forms of assistance to Serbia: financial (donations and loans) and technical (expert) assistance.

The funds from development assistance will be used for realisation of projects in three fields – improvement of public infrastructure (energy and water supply - €68.5 million), sustainable economic development and employment boosting (€52.35 million) and enhancing the capacity of public administration, promotion of democratic values and civic society (€2.8 million).

News source: EMG.rs link: article