OREANDA-NEWS. September 07, 2011. The Board of Directors approved the terms of a loan provided by RusHydro to JSC ESK RusHydro in the amount of 62,500,001 euro. Interest free loan will be granted in rubles at the rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation for date of providing each tranche; the loan shall be repaid before December 31, 2020, reported the press-centre of RusHydro.
 
The obtained monetary funds will be allocated to finance a joint project with Alstom Group to develop the production of hydro-power and auxiliary equipment in the Republic of Bashkortostan, where ESK RusHydro is the operator from RusHydro Group.
 
The plant will specialize in manufacturing hydro-power equipment for small HPPs with a capacity up to 100 MW and pumped storage plants with capacity under 150 MW, as well as equipment for automatic process control systems and integrated security systems. The first hydro-power equipment will be manufactured in 2013. The joint venture will aim its production at both the Russian and foreign markets; the manufactured equipment will be also purchased within the framework for upgrading and construction of new RusHydro's HPPs.
 
Chairman of the Management Board Evgeny Dod commented: "Creation of a joint production venture with Alstom is a milestone event for the hydropower industry. I believe that the best foreign technology and expertise of Alstom brought to the Russian soil will help create a totally new kind of equipment and speed up the modernization of our production facilities".
 
The plant is one of the first joint projects of RusHydro with one of the world leading producers of equipment for HPPs - Alstom. Plant construction will allow to create about 500 new working places in the Republic of Bashkortostan and ensure about 500 million rubles of tax revenues in the republic budget by 2020. Laying of the foundation stone on new plant construction site is planned for autumn of 2011.