Armenia secured on Tuesday a $150 million loan from the government of Japan to build a modern thermal power plant

Armenia secured on Tuesday a $150 million loan from the government of Japan to build a modern thermal power plant which officials said will considerably lower the average cost of power generation in the resource-poor country. An agreement on the launch of the project was signed in Yerevan by Energy Minister Armen Movsisian and representatives of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). “This will be a very serious boost to our energy sector,” Movsisian said at the official ceremony. “The Project is aimed at enhancing the power supply capacity of Armenia, thereby easing possible power shortages in the future and serving to develop the foundation supporting the economic growth of the country,” JBIC said in a separate statement. The Japanese loan, repayable in 40 years, is to be used to finance the purchase of machinery and equipment, construction work and consulting services. The entire process will be overseen and supervised by JBIC. Tetsuo Ito, a senior official from the Japanese embassy in Moscow, said this will ensure that the implementation of the project is “free of corruption.”