Published: 04 June 2015 г.
Modernisation of water and wastewater systems in southern city will be co-financed by government of Kazakhstan
The EBRD and the government of Kazakhstan are supporting a programme of water and wastewater improvements in the southern city of Shymkent with a combined financing package equivalent to ?18 million.
The Bank will lend up to ?10 million to a private water utility, TOO Vodnye Resoursy Marketing, which provides water and wastewater services to Shymkent, to be used for modernising the water and wastewater services in the city. The government of Kazakhstan will provide a capital grant in tenge equivalent to ?8 million, and TOO Vodnye Resoursy Marketing will invest the equivalent of ?500,000 into the modernisation project.
Privately owned Vodnye Resoursy Marketing is among the best utility companies in the country in terms of its operational and financial performance, despite working in a low-income city. The new project will further demonstrate the benefits of involving private companies in providing public services in Kazakhstan.
The loan agreement between the EBRD and the company was signed in Astana during the visit of EBRD President, Sir Suma Chakrabarti.
Anarbek Orman, General Director of TOO Vodnye Resoursy Marketing, said: “Our third joint project with the EBRD will allow us to carry out an urgently needed sewer replacement. Our long-term cooperation with the EBRD enables us to address the needs of the growing city, which already has a population of a million, to access better quality water and wastewater services.”
The capital grant from the government will be provided under the Enhanced Partnership Agreement between the EBRD and the government of Kazakhstan, signed in May 2014, which sets out a programme of joint investment of EBRD and government funds into projects that improve people’s lives.
EBRD President, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, said during the signing ceremony: “Aktobe and Shymkent are the first two cities in Kazakhstan where we will be working together with the government and the local authorities under the Enhanced Partnership to improve the quality of water and related services. I am happy that our work improves people’s lives directly. We look forward to supporting water projects in other regions of Kazakhstan.”
The EBRD and Kazakhstan are working on several other joint projects under the Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Modernisation Framework under the Enhanced Partnership umbrella.
Since the beginning of its operations in Kazakhstan 22 years ago, the EBRD has invested over US$ 7 billion in the country’s economy.