the venezuelan state aluminum companyvenalum is negotiating a total of 123.9 mln dlr in credits from
abroad for a planned expansion of production faciities, finance
minister manuel azpurua said.
    Azpurua spoke to reporters after meeting representatives of
the kreditanstalt fur wiederaufbau (kfw) bank of germany, who
tommorrow will sign a agreement to grant 100 mln marks (54.9
mln US dlrs) in credits to venalum.
    The agreement will have an eight and one-half year term and
a fixed interest rate of 6.13 pct.
    Azpurua said venalum is negotiating credits of 14.9 mln
dlrs from the swiss bank corporation, 14 mln dlrs from
mitsubishi of japan and 40 mln dlrs from eksportfinans of
norway.
    "this proves we are achieving our goal of reestablishing
the financial flows to the country," said azpurua.
    The credits would go to the installation of a fifth
production line in venalum, one of three state aluminum
companies, which produces primarily for the export market.
 Reuter
