China Eximbank provides RMB 500 million government concessional loan for Simon Bolivar Highway Extension Project

On February 2, 2013, China Eximbank and the Government of Ecuador signed a RMB 500 million ($77,380,000) government concessional loan (GCL) agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK GCL NO. (2013) 13 TOTAL NO. (458) No. 1420203052013110101] for the Simon Bolivar Highway Project. The GCL carried the following borrowing terms: a 2% interest rate, a 0% default (penalty) interest rate, a 5 year grace period, a maturity of 20 years, a 0.75% commitment fee, and a 1% management fee. The borrower was expected to used the proceeds of the loan to finance a $78,998,000 commercial contract [REI-EPMMOP-PSB-001-2012] between Empresa Pública Metropolitana de Movilidad y Obras Públicas (EPMMOP) — a state-owned mobility and public works company in Ecuador — and Sinohydro Corporation Limited, which was signed on November 9, 2012. The loan’s (principal) outstanding amount was $56,633,099.07 as of December 31, 2021 and $46,341,422.03 as of November 30, 2022. The purpose of this 12 km Simon Bolivar Highway Project was to connect the capital city of Quito with the newly-opened Mariscal Sucre International Airport. Sinohydro Corporation Limited was the contractor responsible for project implementation. Its work was overseen by EPMMOP, which is a state-owned mobility and public works company in Ecuador. Project implementation commenced on May 6, 2013. The highway was opened to traffic on June 15, 2018. The originally expected project commencement and completion dates were December 24, 2013 and April 24, 2016, respectively.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Prolongation of the Simon Bolivar Avenue Project. The Chinese project title is 厄瓜多尔西蒙玻利瓦尔大道延长线项目. 2. The China Eximbank loan contract can be accessed in its entirety via https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20488191-ecu_2013_442_1_of_2. 3. The commercial contract between EPMMOP and Sinohydro Corporation Limited can be accessed in its entirety via https://www.dropbox.com/s/jv4hp8e7s80il7x/2.%20CONTRATO%20PRINCIPAL.pdfdl=0. 4. The Ecuadorian Ministry of Finance loan identification number is 23170000.

Number of official sources

17

Number of total sources

25