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

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, and a 0.75% management fee. 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. The project was completed on August 27, 2019.

Additional details

1. The loan (PBC) agreement can be accessed in its entirety via https://www.dropbox.com/s/npl1draoc4oghzu/2016%20China%20Eximbank%20Loan%20for%20Santa%20Elene%20Aqueduct%20Hydraulic%20Plan%20Stage%20One%20Project.pdf?dl=0. 2. Some media reports suggestions that the financing for this project came from a $5.3 billion line of credit that China Eximbank issued in 2015 (captured via Project ID #39113), but AidData has not identified any official sources that corroborate this assertion. 3. The Chinese name of this project is 署的圣埃伦娜水工程项目. 4. The Ecuadorian Ministry of Finance loan identification number is 23187000.

Number of official sources

20

Number of total sources

23