Announcement of Sixty Million Dollars Loan to Romania for Post-Earthquake Construction on June 1, 1978

FOR IM.MEDIATE .RELEASE- •World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. • Telephone: (202) 393-6360 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 78/101 June 1, 1978 $60 MILLION LOAN Tn ROMANIA FOR POST EARTHQUAKE CONSTRUCTION The World Bank has approved a $60 million loan to assist the Socialist Republic of Romania meet the remaining needs of delayed reconstruction and deferred construction activities required as a result of the 1977 earthquake. The earthquake caused about $2 billion in damages. This loan, the seventeenth to Romania, brings total Bank com- • mitments to the country to $882.8 million for the agriculture, indus- try and power sectors. The project will assist damaged enterprises requiring immediate reconstruction, enterprises in critical industrial sub-sectors related to the construction sector in accelerating expansion of capacity, and the Natfonal Center for Earthquake Engineering, being developed as part of the National Earthquake Protection Plan. It will supplement the domestic recovery effort with urgently needed imports of special equip- ment incorporating advanced technology, machinery and components. The $60 million World Bank loan will be repayable in 15 years, including 3 years of grace, with interest at 7.5% per annum . • NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents. FORM NO. 11'21 (5-76) T E C HN I CA L DAT A PROJECT: COUNT~Y: Post Earthquake Construction Assistance Socialist Republic of Romania • BANK FINANCING: $60 million, repayable in 15 years, including 3 years of grace, with interest at 7.5% per annum. IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: tnvestment ~ank of Romania, Strada Doamnei 4, Bucharest, Romania. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project aims to assist the Government in its efforts to: (i) carry out remaining short-term reconstruction; (ii) strengthen domestic const~uction capability to meet the needs of the current development p'lan, during which period all earthquake damage is now scheduled to be repaired; (iii) maximize domestic manufacture of building materials, of equipment for providing the mat-. erials, and of construction equipment; and (iv) 1 imit damage from future earthquakes through the National Earthquake Protection Plan. PROCUREMENT: Procurement under the project will be limited to direct imports, with no participation from Romanian suppliers. The imports will be procured in accordance with the Bank's guidelines. Of the list of eligible direct imports tot~lling $70 million, equipment amounting up to $39 million is suitable for procurement under international competitive bidding procedures. Up to $10 million of components for construction machinery and specialized equipment required quickly and avail- able from a limited number of suppliers will be procured through internati9nal shopping requiring Bank review prior to award of contract, and a further amount of up to $16 mill ion will be procured through international shopping with ex-post review by the Bank when each individual contract is less than $300,000. Up to $5 million of components will be purchased directly from recommended suppliers in view of their propriety nature, with ex-post review by the Bank. CONSULTANTS: n.a. ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN: tSTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: n.a. 1981 - 0 - •