Klaipėdos Nafta said in a press release on Friday that it received three offers on January 17, one of which was rejected as not meeting tender requirements. Nordea Bank Finland, which placed the lowest-price offer, was named the winner of the tender.
The company's representatives told BNS that a tender for a loan and guarantee of more than 280 million litas, launched simultaneously with the overdraft tender, has not yet closed.
According to the press release, the contract with Nordea is to be signed in 15 days. The bank will provide its services until June 30, 2015, with an option to extend the contract for up to a year. The maximum amount of the overdraft may be increased by 30 percent to 156 million litas.
Klaipėdos Nafta also said that the contract will include a ban on paying dividends to shareholders until the construction of the LNG terminal is completed. Another condition is that the company sign an agreement to assign the rights to claim funds aimed at covering all or part of the costs of the installation and operation of the LNG terminal.
This means that the funds that Lietuvos Dujos (Lithuanian Gas) will collect from large gas consumers as part of the gas transmission tariff and will transfer to Klaipėdos Nafta will be pledged as security to the bank. A total of 200 million litas is planned to be collected in 2013 to 2014.
Klaipėdos Nafta announced last November that it was looking to raise up to 505 million litas in financing for the LNG terminal project. The company then launched two tenders, for a long-term loan and guarantee and for an overdraft facility.
The European Investment Bank, the Nordic Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as commercial banks, are likely to provide loans to the company.
Lithuania expects to build the terminal in Klaipėda by the end of 2014 to obtain a cheaper alternative to Gazprom-supplied Russian gas, which is widely used for heating.
