On September 19, Minsk /Anna Kot - BELTA/. The China Development Bank will provide a loan of $189 million to finance the investment project for the construction of the Vitebsk Hydroelectric Power Station on the Western Dvina River. The relevant loan agreement has been concluded between RUP "Vitebskenergo" and the Chinese bank, BELTA was informed at the Ministry of Energy of Belarus. The Government of Belarus provides a guarantee to the Chinese state bank for the repayment of the external loan, as well as the payment of interest for the use of this loan and other payments related to it. BPS-Bank JSC has been appointed as the agent bank for servicing the guaranteed loan. This is stipulated by Resolution No. 1242 of the Council of Ministers of Belarus dated September 17 of the current year. The Vitebsk Hydroelectric Power Station with a capacity of 40 MW is planned to be commissioned on the Western Dvina River in 2015. The HPP will allow for the replacement of approximately 42 thousand tons of oil equivalent (toe) per year. In December 2010, a contract was signed with China National Electric Equipment Corporation. According to the document, the Chinese side is to ensure the turnkey construction of the facility. In addition, the corporation's responsibilities include testing, commissioning, technical maintenance during the warranty period, and personnel training. RUP "Vitebskenergo" is also working on the implementation of an investment project for the construction of another hydroelectric power station on the Western Dvina. The Polotsk HPP with a capacity of 21.6 MW is planned to be launched in 2015. The annual electricity production of the station will be 112 million kWh, which will allow for the replacement of 28 thousand toe. The construction of the Polotsk HPP is envisaged by the state program of innovative development of Belarus. The financing of the work is carried out by the Eurasian Development Bank through providing a loan to "Vitebskenergo" under the guarantees of the Government of Belarus. The turnkey construction contract for the Polotsk HPP was concluded with VO "Technopromexport" JSC (Russia) in 2010. The greatest potential of Belarus's hydropower engineering is concentrated in the Grodno, Vitebsk, and Mogilev regions, where the basins of the Neman, Western Dvina, and Dnieper rivers are located. Plans include the construction of two HPPs on the Neman River with a total capacity of 37 MW, four on the Western Dvina (112 MW), and four on the Dnieper (20.3 MW). After their commissioning, the installed capacity of hydroelectric power stations on the balance sheet of Belenergo Production Association will be about 180 MW.