The debt financing was arranged by the Export and Agency Finance Division, part of Citi’s Global Transaction Services, as Sole Mandated Lead Arranger with a total value of approximately US$470 million.

This is the biggest export credit financing for Vietnam to date. The loan capital will cover construction costs for a plant with a capacity of 750MW in the PetroVietnam Nhon Trach Thermal Power Centre in Dong Nai province.

Hoang Xuan Quoc, CEO of Nhon Trach 2 Power Joint Stock Company, said the plant is a key element of the national electricity master plan.

The Nhon Trach 2 Power Plant will be fuelled by natural gas produced off Vietnam’s southern coast. The plant is environmentally friendly and is being registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Project. By March, 2011, electricity generated from this plant will help satisfy the growing demand for power throughout the country and will consolidate PetroVietnam’s position as the second biggest power producer in Vietnam after EVN.

The 12-year financing arrangement is guaranteed by the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance and insured by the German export credit agency Euler Hermes Kreditversicherungs AG (“Hermes”) and the Japanese export credit agency Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (“NEXI”).