The FINANCIAL — The EBRD and the government of Kazakhstan are continuing the modernisation of the country’s water and district heating systems with three new loan agreements signed on May 26.
The EBRD is providing a total of 8.35 billion tenge (€21 million) for the rehabilitation and upgrade of municipal infrastructure in the cities of Kostanay and Ust-Kamenogorsk. The funds will be used for modernisation of the water companies in both cities and the district heating companies in Kostanay, including the replacement of outdated equipment. This will lead to an improvement of the quality of the services provided to residents.
The three EBRD loans will be co-financed by investment grants of 5.1 billion tenge by the government of Kazakhstan under the Enhanced Partnership Framework Agreement with the EBRD for joint investments in crucial infrastructure projects.
The loans will address the urgent need to modernise the companies’ physical infrastructure in the framework of priority investment programmes developed on a least cost–most efficient basis, according to EBRD.
The rehabilitation of water treatment facilities and the introduction of automated control systems will lead to a reduction of excessive abstraction of water and heat. More than 600,000 residents in the two cities will benefit from the modernisation programme.
The loans were signed during the visit of EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti to Astana on the sideline of the Astana Economic Forum. President Chakrabarti said: “We welcome these agreements as they will bring tangible benefits to the residents of two Kazakh cities and deepen our cooperation with the authorities. It is a good example how the EBRD invests in changing peoples’ lives and is another project under our successful partnership with the government.”
Technical cooperation funding of up to €2 million to support the utilities and the EBRD in project preparation and implementation will be provided by the government of Kazakhstan under the Enhanced Partnership Framework Arrangement.
The new signings today bring the total number of Kazakh cities to benefit from the joint EBRD-government framework to 12. The total amount of EBRD financing in municipal infrastructure sector is around €150 million equivalent, while the total amount of grants allocated by the government is more than €100 million.
To date, the EBRD has invested over €6.3 billion in Kazakhstan through more than 200 projects in infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, industry and finance.
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