China Eximbank provides RMB 733.6 million government concessional loan for 100 Community Police Units and 6 Community Surveillance Units Project

On November 4, 2019, China Eximbank and the Government of Ecuador signed an RMB 733,670,590.45 ($113,542,860.57) government concessional loan (GCL) agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK GCL No. 2019 (14) Total No. 685 Serial No. 1420303022019113450] for the Deconcentration of Security Services in Districts and Circuits Project, within the Project for the Reconstruction of Citizen Security in Ecuador framework, which involves the construction of 100 Community Police Units and 6 Community Surveillance Units. The GCL carries the following borrowing terms: a 2% interest rate and a 20-year maturity. The borrower was expected to use the proceeds of the GCL to finance a $95,793,681.45 commercial contract between Ecuador’s Ministry of Interior and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) signed in December 2019. The contract reportedly included the implementation studies for about $2.3 million, the construction itself for about $70.2 million, and the equipment for about $23.1 million. As of June 2020, the loan had achieved a 36.6% disbursement rate (RMB 269,097,790 of RMB 733,670,590.45). The loan’s (principal) amount outstanding was $42,337,154.71 as of December 31, 2021 and $37,942,787.86 as of November 30, 2022. The purpose of the project is to construct and equip 100 community police units (UCPs) and 6 community surveillance units (UVPs) in the Metropolitan District of Quito and other parts of the country. The UVPs will reportedly have offices for the Prosecutor's Office, the Judiciary, and the Police. CRBC is the contractor responsible for project implementation and it reportedly received an advance payment worth 15% of the commercial contract cost. However, the project was halted on March 17, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was still no direct evidence of project implementation as of April 2021.

Additional details

1. The Spanish project title is "Desconcentración de los Servicios de seguridad en distritos y circuitos" within the framework of the “Proyecto de Reconstrucción de Seguridad Ciudadana en el Ecuador” or "El Proyecto de Desconcentración de los Servicios de Seguridad en Distritos y Circuitos" or "El Proyecto de Reconstrucción de la Seguridad Ciudadana en el Ecuador" or "El PROYECTO DE RECONSTRUCCION DE SEGURIDAD CIUDADANA EN EL ECUADOR." 2. The Chinese project title is 尔灾后重建居民治安项目. 3. This China Eximbank loan is not captured in the China-Latin America Finance Database maintained by Boston University and Inter-American Dialogue. Nor is it included it in the China’s Overseas Development Finance Dataset maintained by Boston University's Global Development Policy Center. 4. Construction re-started for a UPC in Latacunga on or about March 25, 2022. It is unknown if this was one of the units associated with this project. While it was reportedly part of a larger project that involved the construction of 100 UPCs nationally, that same project also reportedly involved the construction of 100 UVPs. The unit was also being constructed outside of the Metropolitan District of Quito. This issue warrants further investigation. 5. Ecuador's Ministry of Interior was formerly known as the Ministry of Government, Police, Municipalities and Cults (until 2010) and has been known as the Ministry of Government since 2019. 6. The Ecuadorian Ministry of Finance loan identification number is 23200000.

Number of official sources

17

Number of total sources

22