IRANIAN FIRM INTERESTED IN BOSNIAN ENERGY SECTOR

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (September 8,2008) - The representatives of the Farab Company, the leading Iranian company for the construction of the hydro-electric power stations, in their yesterday's visit to the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, expressed their interest in constructing the facilities for the production of electricity in Bosnia.

In the course of the yesterday's meeting with the FBIH Entity Prime Minister Nedzad Brankovic and Vahid Heco, the FBIH Entity Minister of Energy, Mining, and Industry, the representatives of this company said that the Iranian Bank for Export Development had already provided money for the investment in Bosnia, and that the Farab Company was prepared to start the work at any time. The FBIH entity government representatives said that the Iranians offered two models for the construction of the electric power facilities.

The first model would include the crediting by the Iranian Bank for Export Development; in this case, Bosnia would get a loan under favourable terms, and Farab, in cooperation with the domestic companies, would carry out the work. The second model of financing would include the direct investment of the Farab Company, and the Iranian company would hand over the constructed facility to the FBIH entity for use, after a certain period of time.

Heco stressed that the electrical energy sector in Bosnia needed companies that have references such as Farab's, particularly keeping in mind their knowledge and technologies in this sphere. He said that a feasibility study was in the drafting procedure for the construction of around 20 free-flowing hydro- electric power plants on the Bosna River, with the power between 20 and 40 megawatts, and that the Farab Company could participate in those projects.

Brankovic said that the FBIH entity government wanted to start big projects, particularly in the electrical energy sector. He added that several decisions were currently in the parliamentary procedure concerning the construction of the electrical energy facilities and that the government was waiting for the green light from the Parliament.
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