Китай лишился контракта на постройку опреснителя в Израиле, стоимостью

Китай лишился контракта на постройку опреснителя в Израиле, стоимостью в 1,5 млрд. долларов.

Под давление американской администрации, Израиль отдал предпочтение в пользу местной компании в деле строительства и управления крупной новой опресняющей стоки станцией. Китайская компания рассматривалась как лидер тендера, однако в итоге ей было отказано в контракте.

May 26, 2020
<…Israeli authorities announced on May 26 that local company IDE technologies was chosen to construct the Sorek 2 sewage desalination plant in the south of the country. Israeli Hutchison Company, an affiliate of the Chinese Hutchison, was considered until recently the frontrunner for the tender, but American pressure against its candidacy evidently worked.
Sorek 2 is expected to be one of the world's largest desalination plants, increasing Israel’s desalinated water production by 35% and lowering water costs. Five other desalination plants already operate in Israel, but Sorek 2 will be the biggest. A 2018 tender invited companies to bid on its planning, construction and operation for a period of 25 years…>

<…Still, the decision to pick the Israeli contender was reportedly also influenced by American pressure against Chinese involvement. The current and previous US administrations had pressured Israel over the past few years to limit its commercial relations with China in sensitive areas such as cyber technologies and infrastructure. The United States was disappointed over Chinese involvement in construction projects in the ports of Haifa and Ashdod. Two years ago, Israel agreed to an American demand to establish a special committee for examining and controlling foreign investments in the country…>

The Hutchinson issue has now been removed from the Israel-US agenda, but the issue of Jerusalem-Beijing ties is far from over. China has invested in many Israeli firms in recent years, including the largest food distributer in Israel, Tnuva. In 2019, when Israel first decided to privatize some of its electricity production, the China Harbor company bought shares in the Alon Tavor power station in the north of Israel. Currently, China Harbor is interested in buying shares in a second power station, this time in the south of the country.

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/05/is..