BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 4. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in 2022, made its first ever investment in a local currency bond issued by Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (Kazakhstan Railways - KTZ), Zsuzsanna Hargitai, EBRD Managing Director for Central Asia, told Trend.
According to the managing director, the loan amounted to 50 billion Kazakh tenge (almost 100 million euros).
"The investment will boost the financial and operational resilience of KTZ and help Kazakhstan’s state-owned railway operator restructure its balance sheet and implement a range of measures, including the reorganization of its transit freight operations, required to cope with after effects of the pandemic and the ongoing geopolitical turmoil," she explained.
As Hargitai pointed out, EBRD considers the development of transport links in Central Asia of utmost importance in cooperation with the countries of the region.
The EBRD is already working with transport and logistical companies along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), or the so-called Middle Corridor, such as Temirservice Astana, an operator of the first private railway station in Kazakhstan, she noted, adding that, last year, the EBRD also signed a memorandum of understanding with a sea port of Aktau. The EBRD is considering a loan, which will support the modernisation of cargo handling equipment and related port infrastructure.
"Our annual investment in Kazakhstan stood at $525 million (480 million euros) through 14 projects. Our annual disbursements in the country reached $600 million (over 550 million euros) making it one the most effective operations in the Bank with tangible result you can see," Hargitai added.
Meanwhile, the current EBRD portfolio in Kazakhstan as of January 1,2023, amounted to 2.91 billion euros. The portfolio is designed for the implementation of 122 ongoing projects.