According to Portuguese weekly newspaper Expresso, Cartaxo made the statement on the sidelines of a ceremony to sign a contract for 200 million euros provided by the Bank of China.

The last large project carried out by REN in Mozambique was the acquisition, for 40 million euros, of a stake in the Cahora Bassa dam together with Mozambican company Companhia Eléctrica do Zambeze, which took several years to come to fruition. The Portuguese group now plans to focus on projects in Portugal and wait for the results of some international tenders.

Cartaxo, who ahs already handed in his resignation and will leave the group after the General Meeting scheduled for 3 April, said that in the three-year period “topographical survey, mapping and essentially engineering projects,” will be carried out.

Of the total 1.14 billion euros REN has taken on in loans from three Chinese companies, “the 200 million-euro loan signed today with the Bank of china is the most competitive in terms of the interest rate applied and the maturity negotiated,” the REN chairman said.

So far REN has taken on two loans of 400 million euros from the Development Bank of China, as well as a 140 million-euro loan from the Commercial and Industrial Bank of China. It has now added another loan of 200 million euros from the Bank of China.

REN’s net debt totals 2.4 billion euros and between 20 and 30 percent of the total has been loaned by Chinese banks.

The China State Grid group is REN’s main shareholder with a stake of 25 percent.