LOAN AGREEMENTbetweenTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITYas LenderandTHE REPUBLIC OF LATVIAas BorrowerTHE BANK OF LATVIAas Agent to the BorrowerEUR 3 100 000 000_____ January 2009This Loan Agreement (the "Agreement") is made by and betweenthe European Community (hereinafter referred to as the "EC" or the "Lender"), represented by the Commission of the European Communities (hereinafter referred to as the "Commission"), andthe Republic of Latvia (hereinafter referred to as "Latvia" or the "Borrower"), represented by the Minister of Finance, Mr Atis Slakteris,andthe Bank of Latvia acting as Agent on behalf of the Borrower (hereinafter referred to as the "Borrower's Agent"), represented by the Governor of the Bank of Latvia, Mr Ilmārs Rimšēvičs.PreambleWhereas: (1)Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 of 18 February 2002 establishing a facility providing medium-term financial assistance for Member States' balances of payments (OJ L 53, 23.2.2002, p. 1) empowered the Commission on behalf of the EC to contract borrowings on the capital markets or with financial institutions with the aim to grant loans to one or more Member States which are experiencing, or threatened with, difficulties in their balance of current payments or capital movements; (2)Latvia has requested medium-term financial assistance;(3)The Council, by its Decision 5255/09 of 20 January 2009 (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision") decided to grant Latvia under Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 a loan amounting to a maximum of EUR 3 100 000 000 with a maximum average maturity of seven years. The loan shall be made available in maximum six instalments;(4)The loan is granted in conjunction with a loan from the International Monetary Fund of SDR 1.5 billion (around ...
