Georgia, Tbilisi, Dec.17, Trend N. Kirtskhalia /
Tbilisi Electrical Distribution Company JSC Telasi has received from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development a loan worth $ 25 million. These funds will be used to restore the electricity network of Tbilisi. The corresponding agreement was signed on Dec.15 by the Telasi director general Yuri Pimonov and Nandita Parshad, EBRD Director for Power and Energy.
The loan is provided to Telasi to finance works on the expansion and rehabilitation of network and substations of medium and low voltage, as well as the introduction of a new system of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), which will allow Telasi to conduct remote monitoring of the company's networks.
Implementation of these projects will increase the reliability of electricity supply to the company's subscribers, improve the quality of electricity supply to final consumers and the functioning of the Georgian energy system as a whole.
"This loan will help Telasi to significantly improve operational and financial performance, meet its investment obligations by providing the population with better services," Pimonov said.
"This project will further deepen our relationship with Inter RAO UES. The project of Telasi serves to increase energy efficiency. Reduction of electricity losses and improvement of the quality of service is beneficial both for the distribution company and its customers of domestic and business spheres," Nandita Parshad, EBRD Director for Power and Energy, said.
The mandate agreement on the financing of investment projects of JSC Telasi to rehabilitate low-voltage network was signed by Inter RAO UES, JSC Telasi and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in April 2010.
JSC Telasi, included on Inter RAO UES Group of Companies is one of the largest network companies in Georgia, carrying out distribution and sale of electricity. It serves the Georgian capital - Tbilisi and its suburbs, selling about 80 percent of electricity consumed by the capital region. Telasi serves more than 454,000 subscribers.