Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Dec. 17 / Trend D. Azizov /
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) board of directors has approved allocating the next tranche worth $220 million to the Uzbek government to build a national highway, ADB representative office in Tashkent told Trend on Monday.
This is the second tranche within the multi-tranche financing programme to the amount of $500 million for a national highway construction approved by the bank in August 2011 within the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) programme on 'Development of Regional Roads, Phase 2'.
The loan will be given from the ordinary resources of the bank for 25 years, including a five-year grace period under the bank's standard preferential rate based on a rate of LIBOR. ADB funds will be used for the reconstruction of individual sections of Tashkent-Osh highway (A-373) with a total length of 75 kilometres by replacing the two-lane asphalt pavement for four-lane cement concrete.
ADB funds within this programme will be allocated in three tranches over 2011-2013. The bank's funds will be used for the reconstruction of individual sections of the Guzar-Bukhara-Nukus-Beyneu highway (A-380) and the Tashkent - Osh (A-373) with a total length of about 230 kilometres.
The first tranche worth $130 million was delivered in 2011 for 24 years, including a four-year grace period. The funds of the first tranche were spent to reconstruct the A-373 highway section on the Kamchik Pass to a distance of 74 kilometres.
It was reported that in April 2010, ADB approved allocating a loan package worth $600 million for the Uzbek government to construct national highways.
ADB funds were spent to reconstruct individual sections of the Guzar-Bukhara-Nukus-Beyneu (A-380) and Tashkent-Andijan (A-373) highways with a total length of 450km.
Uzbekistan joined ADB in 1995. During this time, the bank has approved loans for about 40 joint projects in education and healthcare, modernisation of generating capacity and energy infrastructure, rail and road infrastructure, public utilities, agriculture and the financial sector with a total project cost of about $9 billion with a share of ADB financing of about $4 billion.