China Eximbank provides RMB 153 million government concessional loan for Home Gas Network Program (Linked to Record ID#39428)

Project narrative

On January 22, 2005, China Eximbank and the Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) — a Bolivian state-owned enterprise dedicated to the exploration, exploitation, refining, industrialization, distribution and commercialization of oil, natural gas and derived products — signed an RMB 153 million government concessional loan (GCL) agreement [China Eximbank GCL NO. 2004 (08) 118] for the Home Gas Network Program (Programas de Redes de Gas). The GCL carried the following borrowing terms: a 21 year maturity, a 9 year grace period, and a 2% interest rate. In total, the lender made disbursements worth approximately $24,433,320. The borrower made no principal repayments between 2005 and 2013. However, it paid interest and/or fees worth an unknown amount between 2005 and 2012 and $501,846 in 2013. Then, the borrower made loan repayments worth $1,581,123 in 2014 ($1,080,787 in principal and $500,336 in interest/fees), $2,571,982 in 2015 ($2,111,641 in principal and $460,341 in interest/fees), $2,41,7168 in 2016 ($2,017,198 in principal and $399,970 in interest/fees), $2,319,246 in 2017 ($1,969,970 in principal and $349,276 in interest/fees), $2,333,860 in 2018 ($2,016,718 in principal and $317,142 in interest/fees), $2,194,023 in 2019 ($1,929,738 in principal and $264,285 in interest/fees), an unknown amount in 2020, $2,242,700 in 2021 ($2,045,773 in principal and $196,927 in interest/fees), $2,135,754 in 2022 ($1,984,495 in principal and $151,269 in interest/fees), and $1,977,112 in 2023 ($1,872,516 in principal and $104,596 in interest/fees). The loan’s (principal) amount outstanding was $24,433,320 as of December 31, 2012, $25,118,494 as of December 31, 2013, $23,481,586 as of December 31, 2014, $20,402,403 as of December 31, 2015, $17,132,282 as of December 31, 2016, $16,215,733 as of December 31, 2017, $13,470,740 as of December 31, 2018, $11,377,033 as of December 31, 2019, $10,172,831 as of December 31, 2020, $8,308,309 as of December 31, 2021, $5,691,459 as of December 31, 2022, and 3,720,367 as of December 31, 2023. The purpose of the project was to develop a home gas network China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd. (or "CAMC"), which is a subsidiary of China National Machinery Industry Corporation, was the contractor responsible for project implementation. The project was completed, but it was plagued by controversy; Bolivian legislators claimed that the gas network equipment that YPFB acquired from CAMC was substantially overpriced.