Russian bank loans Ecuador $195.2 million to build power plant

Russian bank Roseximbank is loaning Ecuador $195.2 million for the construction of a new power plant, the Latin Americana country's strategic sectors ministry said Tuesday.
 
The new plant -- a 187 megawatt natural gas thermoelectric power plant in the southwestern coastal province of El Oro -- will be run by Russian company Inter Rao Ues. Operations are to start in 2016, the ministry said.
 
The loan was agreed to during Ecuador President Rafael Correa's current visit to Russia, part of a trip that also includes stops in Belarus and France.
 
In April 2011, Roseximbank loaned Ecuador $123.2 million for equipment for two hydroelectric plants, a project that aims to generate 253 megawatts of power and in which Inter Rao Ues is also participating. That project is due to start operations in 2015.
 
The bank also offered to lend $1.37 billion to build two hydroelectric plants, one 596 megawatts and the other 190 megawatts, and for two water management projects aimed at irrigation and generating power, the ministry said.