OREANDA-NEWS. December 23, 2011. The Government of Belarus will issue a guarantee to China Development Bank for the loan on the construction of the Vitebsk hydroelectric plant. Such a decision is contained in Resolution No.1700 of the Council of Ministers of 20 December this year.

According to the document, the Directors General of the state power engineering association Belenergo and Vitebsk unitary enterprise Vitebskenergo have been made personally responsible for the implementation of the investment project to build the Vitebsk hydroelectric plant on the Western Dvina River, targeted use of the foreign loan of China Development Bank under the project, timely repayment of the loan, interest rates, commissions and other payment. The Energy Minister of Belarus will supervise the implementation of the investment project by Vitebskenergo.

The Vitebsk hydroelectric plant (40MW) on the Western Dvina River is scheduled to be put into operation in 2015. The plant will replace about 42,000 tonnes of fuel equivalent per year. The State Development Bank of China will allocate \\$189 million to finance the project. The turnkey construction contract has been signed with China National Electrical Engineering Corporation (CNEEC).