OREANDA-NEWS. On May 12, 2009 President Alexander Lukashenko toured Minsk Combined Heat and Power Plant No 3, reported the Official website president.gov.by.

The purpose of the tour was to check on the progress made by the national energy industry in upgrading its basic production assets, and to assess the execution of the respective state programme.

The President was informed that in 2006-2008, due to the programme, the energy industry managed to reduce depreciation of the basic production assets of the national energy system by nearly seven per cent, the number of breakdowns in the heating networks by 34 per cent and that in grids by 26.5 per cent. Nearly 900 tonnes of fuel equivalent (t.f.e.) were saved during this period, which is equivalent to US135 million, and 267,500 t.f.e. of imported energy resources were substituted with home-produced energy.

Belarus has been investing heavily in the projects that aim to make the use of primary fuel more efficient.

In the course of his tour, the President raised the issue of efficiency of the national energy industry. Alexander Lukashenko tasked the Presidential Administration to find out why the efficiency of a Belarusian CHP plant is not better, but in fact is more or less the same, as the efficiency of a similar German CHP plant whereas the outlays on the purchase of energy resources and on the payment of salaries in Belarus are smaller compared to those in Western Europe, and the equipment is the same.

According to First Vive Premier Vladimir Semashko, Belarus is interested in attracting international credit lines to realize projects in its energy industry. For example, a EUR52-million Chinese credit, which was provided to Belarus on very advantageous terms, enabled Belarus to upgrade Minsk CHP plant No 2. In the near future Belarus will obtain a EUR280-million Chinese credit to modernize Minsk CHP plant No 5. ‘Nearly all the issues related to the obtaining of the credit have already been settled,’ he said.

Up until now, the modernization of the Belarusian energy industry has been financed from sources inside Belarus, the sources being predominantly company’s own funds and bank loans.