Alpha Bank and CEC to finance ELCEN fuel

Alpha Bank will provide 70 percent of the loan, while CEC will cover the remaining 30 percent. “The initial fund withdrawal will be made next month. The five-year loan was signed with a two-year grace period,” the company’s Economic Manager, Marcel Valca, told Business Standard.

Elcen is the largest local thermal energy supplier and covers 10 percent of electricity demand nationwide. It is short on liquidity due to outstanding debts worth €253 million from heat suppliers Radet Constanta and Radet Bucharest.

Due to higher prices for gas and crude oil, while thermal energy prices remained idle, Elcen posted some €18.5 mln in losses in 2007, compared to gross profit worth €7.3 mln in 2006.