China Eximbank provides $102.5 million preferential buyer’s credit for Santa Elena Aqueduct Hydraulic Plan Stage 1 Project

Project narrative

On January 7, 2015, China Eximbank and the Government of the Republic of Ecuador signed a framework agreement on future cooperation, which identified a list of priority project for financing, including the Santa Elena Aqueduct Hydraulic Plan Stage 1 Project. Then, on November 17, 2016, China Eximbank and the Government of the Republic of Ecuador signed a preferential buyer's credit (PBC) loan agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK PBC NO. (2016) 33 TOTAL NO. (421) SERIAL NO: 1420303052016212684] worth $102,567,186.91 for the Santa Elena (also Santa Ana) Aqueduct Hydraulic Plan Stage One Project. The loan (PBC) carries the following borrowing terms: an interest rate of 3%, a default (penalty) interest rate of 0%, a grace period of 5 years, a maturity of 20 years, a 0.75% commitment fee, a 0.75% management fee, and a 0% default (penalty) interest rate. The borrower was expected to use the proceeds of the loan to finance 85% of the cost of two commercial contracts: a $112,547,650.97 construction contract (ID#RE-EEI-EPA-021-2015] between Empresa Publica del Agua EPA-EP and China International Water & Electric Corporation (CWE), which was signed on December 30, 2015; and a $8,119,627.75 supervision contract (ID#RE-EEI-EPA-009-2015] between Empresa Publica del Agua EPA-EP and Changjiang Institute of Survey, Planning, Design, and Research (CISPDR), which was signed on December 31, 2015. The loan’s (principal) amount outstanding was $102,567,186.89 as of December 31, 2021 and $99,148,280.66 as of November 30, 2022. The project was part of the Intervention, Expansion, and Construction of the Hydraulic Plan of Santa Elena Aqueduct, which was broken into Phase 1 & Phase 2. It involved an expansion of the existing infrastructure of the Daule-Santa Elena transfer system from 4.6 m3/s to 27.6m3/2 to meet the demands for drinking water and irrigation. CWE was the contractor responsible for project implementation. Its work was supervised by Changjiang lnstitute of Survey, Planning, Design and Research (CISPDR). The project, which had a planned construction period of 27 months, was completed on August 27, 2019.