CRO ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY RECEIVES DM 120 MILLION-WORTH SYNDICATED L

SYNDICATED L $ OAN DUBROVNIK, Sept 19 (Hina) - The Croatian Electric Power Industry (HEP) and a syndicate of 17 European and world banks from ten countries signed a DM 120 million-worth syndicated loan agreement in the south Croatian port of Dubrovnik on Friday. The agreement was signed by Damir Begovic, HEP's managing director, and Kevin Murray, a representative of the Paris National Bank, on behalf of the bank syndicate. With this agreement, HEP will appear on the world financial market independently for the first time, since the syndicated loan has been realized without demand for guarantees on the part of the Croatian government. The loan repayment deadline is five years. With this loan HEP will repay previous unfavourable short-term loans, finance the reconstruction of the electric power network in the Danube region of eastern Croatia, repair the power distribution network in the Zagreb area, and invest in power distribution activities, said Begovic. Two leading world credit rating assessment agencies evaluated HEP's credit capabilities as favourable, he concluded. (hina) ha jn 191749 MET sep 97