The Social Fund for Development (SFD) and the Ministry of Petroleum's Natural Gas Vehicles Company (NGV Cargas) signed a financing contract worth LE10m. The funding, provided by the SFD, will be supporting the conversion of 2,000 new cars to run on natural gas, according to a Ministry of Petroleum statement on Sunday. The provided funding is for the 18th phase of the project, with the signing taking place between NGV Cargas Egypt CEO Tarek El-Degwy and the SFD's Head of the Technical Office, Raafat Abbas. "From the beginning of the conversion programme until the end of April 2015, the number of cars operating on natural gas has reached 214,000 cars, along with the creation of 179 supply stations and 72 conversion centres," Minister of Petroleum Sherif Ismail said in the statement. SFD Secretary General Soha Soliman said the fund has contributed towards the conversion of approximately 17,400 cars, via financing worth EGP 87m. She also clarified that the loans are on concessional terms, as the repayment period is six years with a one year grace period. She highlighted that the petroleum sector has been highly committed towards repaying their due amounts, which led the fund to support the project at all its stages. Source: Daily News Egypt
