SETimes.comBusiness: World Bank approves loan for Serbia
20/11/2009
Serbia will receive a state budget loan from the World Bank. Also in business news: Albania awards concession contracts for eight power plants, and a 400/110 kilowatt power substation opens in Istog, Kosovo.
The World Bank Board of Directors approved a 134m-euro budget support loan for Serbia on Tuesday (November 17th), Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said. The financing is part of 268m-euro financing package agreed on during the recent World Bank-IMF summit, aimed at helping Serbia patch up its budget for 2009 and 2010. The funds will target reducing public administration and improving the business climate in Serbia.
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Albania's government awarded eight concession contracts to start the building of eight hydro power plants on Wednesday (November 18th). This new wave of projects brings the total number of such facilities under construction to 50. Total investments in these plants surpass 200m euros.
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A 400/110 kilowatt power sub-station was inaugurated on Tuesday (November 17th) in Istog. The facility will produce electricity to meet industrial power demand in western and central Kosovo. The 23.3m-euro project was financed by the German Bank for Development and the Kosovo government.
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The first Balkan forum on alternative tourism was held on Saturday (November 14th) and Sunday in Skopje and Berovo. Representatives from Macedonia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia agreed that a cluster for alternative tourism should be established in order to deal with problems in the sector, encourage tourism through education, promotion and work on international projects.
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RWE and the Serbian government signed a memorandum of understanding on the construction of hydro-power plants in Serbia, the German company announced on Monday (November 16th). The first step includes plant building with a total capacity of up to 3,000 megawatts. The firm will explore three potential sites -- on the Danube, Morava and Drina rivers.
(Various sources – 13/11/09-20/11/09)