Beirut (APD) - Wataniya Telecom Algerie (WTA) the subsidiary of the Kuwait-based Wataniya Telecom (NMTC) in Algeria announced that it signed an agreement on Monday with a banking consortium led by Citigroup to grant it a set of medium term loans worth $490 million, the Kuwait-based daily Al-Watan reported Wednesday.
"These funds which will be settled in seven years will be used to finance our operations in Algeria; $206.5 million of these loans are provided on the local financial market," Ronnie Patuan, WTA's general manager, said.
"This multi-party agreement aims to finalize the overall investment plan prepared by the mother company in Kuwait," he added.
"This agreement is the first of its kind on the Algerian financial market; the trust Wataniya Telecom enjoys made it possible," WTA's financial manager said.
Wataniya Telecom Algerie, which launched its operations less than a year ago (on August 25, 2004), now, boasts more than 800,000 subscribers to its services. The company covers at present 24 provinces in Algeria and plans to cover the whole country formed of 48 provinces by the end of the current year, the daily said. [FC]
By Shikrallah Nakhoul
© APD (Arab Press Digest) 2005
