N. Macedonia's parl approves guarantees for 188 mln euro EBRD loans

North Macedonia's parliament has approved the issuance of state guarantees for two loans worth some 188 million euro ($199 million) in total from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), to be used to finance major infrastructure projects, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.

On Monday, the parliament gave the green light to a guarantee for a 167.6 million euro loan from the EBRD for the construction of a 10.5 kilometre-long motorway section from Skopje to the Blace interchange near the border with Kosovo, the finance ministry said in a press release.

The government will also receive an investment grant of 20.82 million euro and additional 5.68 million euro in technical support from the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) for the project, the finance ministry said. EBRD will also grant 350,000 euro for the development of a national strategy for e-mobility and an action plan for road infrastructure.

The parliament also decided to issue a guarantee for a 19.8 million euro loan from the EBRD to cover part of the costs for the construction of the 10 MW Oslomej 2 solar power plant and the 20 MW Bitola solar power plant.

The total cost of these renewable energy projects implemented by state-owned electricity producer ESM is 25.5 million euro. WBIF will provide a grant of 5 million euro and ESM will contribute 700,000 euro.

($ = 0.9449 euro)

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