Belarus to borrow €180m from IBRD, EIB to build heating plants, upgrade heat insulation of houses

Belarus will channel €180 million borrowed from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) into building heating plants and into the heat insulation modernization of residential houses. International agreements on implementing the investment project on expanding sustainable energy use have been approved by Belarus president decree No.296 of 3 August 2020, the press service of the Energy Effectiveness Department of the State Standardization Committee of Belarus told BelTA.

The presidential decree is designed to enable the fulfillment of intrastate procedures for the agreements between Belarus and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank to come into force. The project is designed to run in 2020-2025. €180 million will be evenly borrowed from the IBRD and the EIB as part of the project. Another $3.65 million will be granted by the Global Environment Facility.

The investment project provides for building (reconstructing) 35 heating plants of housing and utility enterprises and making sure the plants burn wood fuel. Measures will be taken in Grodno Oblast and Mogilev Oblast to upgrade heat insulation of 249 apartment buildings with assistance of their residents’ money. About €63.8 million will be allocated to implement these measures.

The presidential decree approves the financial agreements with the IBRD and the EIB that have been signed, distributes sums of credit resources between the oblast administrations depending on the number of measures and projects they have to implement. The decree also specifies parties responsible for implementing the project, the procedure for repaying the borrowed resources, and the provision of tax incentives in the course of implementing the investment project.

The investment project is supposed to substitute imported natural gas with locally available wood fuel for heating purposes. The investment project has also been prepared for the sake of implementing Belarus president decree No.327 of 4 September 2019 on the improvement of energy effectiveness of apartment buildings.

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