EBRD's First Investment In Kazakhstan Railways To Boost Freight Operations
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) 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.
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