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Overview

Bank of China provides €24 million EUR bilateral loan to SWAN Mobile for the 4G Network Upgrade Project

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$28,800,454
Commitment Year•2017Country of Activity•Slovak RepublicDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•Slovak RepublicSector•CommunicationsFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Implementation

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Jun 1, 2017
Start (actual)
Sep 9, 2014
End (planned)
Sep 9, 2017

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Ultimate beneficial owners

At least 25% host country ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (BOC)

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • SWAN Mobile, a.s.

Implementing agencies

State-owned companies

  • ZTE Corporation (formerly Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation)

Loan description

Bank of China provides €24 million EUR bilateral loan to SWAN Mobile for the 4G Network Upgrade Project

Interest type•Unknown

Collateral

The borrower provided a lien on the entire 4G network and amount of client revenues as security for the loan.

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In or around June 2017, Bank of China (BOC) provided a €24 million EUR loan to SWAN Mobile, a.s. — a Slovak telecommunications provider and operator — for the 4G Network Upgrade Project. The loan was secured (collateralized) against a lien on the entire 4G network and some amount of client revenues. The proceeds of the loan would be used by the borrower to construct transmitters and exchanges for their 4G network, initially launched in 2014. It was announced in September 2014 that ZTE, a Chinese state-owned telecommunication equipment enterprise, would provide equipment for a 4G network. Construction would last three years. There was some backlash to this loan due to the security provided and the use of ZTE equipment. In spite of this, in August 2017, Slovenská Pošta — Slovakia’s primary postal service operator — purchased shares of SWAN Mobile. In January 2018, the lien on the network and revenues was reportedly released.