SEPT. 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a trip to Armenia, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it was extending its scheme aimed at boosting lending to women and small and medium-sized businesses. It will lend Araratbank, one of the larger banks in the country, the equivalent of $10m in local dram currency, media reported.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
OCT. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Neil McKain, regional director of the EBRD, said that the Bank is ready to put $100m into the ailing Tojiksodirotbank (TSB), which has been under temporary administration since May. Rumours about the EBRD buying a stake in TSB have lingered for months. Should the investment be confirmed, it would be lower than the $165m previously rumoured. TSB is Tajikistan’s second-largest lender.
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(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)
OCT. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The EBRD and the EU will partner to implement a 42m euro ($46.5m) programme to support farming in Tajikistan. A first tranche of 15m euros was provided to Arvand, a microfinance organisation, to make available to small agri- business borrowers. The EBRD, which is contributing 20m euros to the project, said that another development bank will soon join the project. Despite being the largest employer, the agricultural sector in Tajikistan is lacking investment and planning.
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(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)
OCT. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) signed a $700m loan deal for the construction of the so-called TAPI gas pipeline that will pump Turkmen gas to India via Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This is an important deal, not just because of its size, but also because it brings a second major international institution into the project. Turkmenistan has been powering the project, kicking off construction in December, but, up until now, Western companies and financial institutions, other than the Manila- based Asian Development Bank, have steered away from joining it.
Now, though, after months of negotiations, the normally publicity shy Turkmen Bank for Foreign Economic Activities met up with the IDB in Washington DC to agree the loan.
Through its official news website, Turkmenistan lauded the deal.
“The construction of the transnational gas pipeline will ensure the long-term supply of energy in the countries of Southeast Asia and will ensure further economic development in the region,” it said.
For months, Turkmenistan has negotiated with IDB and other international financial institutions for loans and grants. The Asian Development Bank, adviser to the project, agreed a $200m loan in April, when it also said the project was ‘doable’.
Others have been less impressed, calling the project, literally, a pipe- dream that couldn’t be done.
And it is certainly a challenge. The plan is to build a 1,800km pipeline from Turkmenistan across Afghanistan to Pakistan and India. The cost of the pipeline is estimated at $10b.
The IDB, which is headquartered in Jeddah, has not commented on the $700m loan for TAPI.
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(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)
OCT. 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The EBRD lent $850,000 to Gul Zaman, Turkmenistan’s largest events and catering company, to expand its business and create a premium industrial-scale bakery. The EBRD said that the EU will also provide grants and training for the project. Last month, the EBRD gave a $2.8m loan to a Turkmen brewer to build a potato crisp plant.
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(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)
OCT. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The EBRD gave a $560,000 loan to Taze Ay, a Turkmen meatpacker aiming to expand its production line by 25%. Located in the southern city of Mary, Taze Ay was founded in 2003 by a local family. Taiwan’s International Development and Cooperation fund will also contribute to the expansion of the factory with a $240,000 loan.
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(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)
TBILISI, OCT. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Georgian government unveiled the 20.7MW Kartli Wind Farm, Georgia’s first large-scale wind farm which is considered a key milestone towards both boosting its power production and increasing its green energy footprint.
Kartli Wind Power Plant, a joint venture owned by the Georgian Energy Development Fund (GEDF) and Oil and Gas Company of Georgia, manages the project, which cost $34m to build. GEDF is part-owned by the EBRD, which loaned $22m for the project.
At the inauguration ceremony near the town of Gori in central Georgia, PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili lauded the project and highlighted its importance.
“This project is an indication that Georgia is becoming a truly developed country with leading technologies,” Mr Kvirikashvili said.
“This wind farm will enable us to partly meet our electricity demand during winter time.”
The government has pushed for the development of wind projects across the country to increase domestic production and limit the growth in imports during the winter months.
In the summer, Georgia exports its electricity surplus from its hydropower plants, mainly to Russia and Turkey.
The Kartli wind farm aims to reduce the winter gap and lower carbon emissions.
The EBRD also praised the project and said that it was ready to lend more funds to develop the country’s renewable energies.
“The EBRD stands ready to support Georgia in promoting renewable energy sources and this project confirms our determination to continue making significant investments in renewable energy,” Aida Sitdikova, EBRD’s regional director for Energy, said in a statement.
The Kartli Wind Farm is the biggest wind power project in the South Caucasus although Azerbaijan said it was considering erecting a wind farm in the Caspian Sea.
Power production has become a major headache for governments in the region as they try to feed electricity to growing populations and also replace aging Soviet infrastructure.
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(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – During a visit to Uzbekistan by the World Bank’s new regional director for Central Asia, Lilia Burunciuc, the Uzbek ministry of economy asked for a $100m loan to improve the country’s job market. The ministry said it wanted to create around 500,000 new, sustainable jobs over the next five years. In June, the World Bank committed to a new partnership with Uzbekistan, earmarking around $3b for a vast range of projects.
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(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Korea International Cooperation Agency will send $4m to the United Nations World Food Programme to implement a three-year programme aimed at improving food security in four regions of Kyrgyzstan. The project will target the poorest areas of the Batken, Jalal-Abad, Osh and Naryn provinces in central and south Kyrgyzstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
SEPT. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – During a visit to the Karakalpakstan region in west Uzbekistan, acting President and PM Shavkat Mirziyoyev urged the local administration to speed up the modernisation of the region’s biggest thermal power station, Takhiatash. The upgrade scheme is being part funded by a $300m loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and will boost overall production to 930MW from the current 730MW.
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(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
