EBRD, Kazakhstan cooperating in public services modernization

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Kazakh government fruitfully continue cooperation on a wide-scale program to modernize public services in the country.

The EBRD and the Akbulak Company, engaged in Aktobe city's municipal water and wastewater issues, signed a loan agreement in Astana on June 3 during the visit of EBRD President, Suma Chakrabarti to Kazakhstan, the EBRD said on June 3.

According to the agreement, the bank will lend up to 2 billion tenge (€10 million equivalent) to Akbulak Company for modernizing the water and wastewater services in Aktobe.

The company will also receive a capital grant of up to 1.4 billion tenge (€6.7 million) from the state budget and co-financing of up to 350 million tenge (€1.7 million) from the local regional government (Akimat).

The capital grant will be provided under the Enhanced Partnership Agreement between the EBRD and Kazakhstan, signed in May 2014, which sets out a program of joint investment of EBRD and government funds into projects that improve people’s lives.

“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,” Suma Chakrabarti, EBRD President, said while signing the project during his visit to Astana.

Arkhimed Mukhambetov, Akim of Aktobe Oblast, believes that the implementation of this project will allow increasing the quality of water supply and wastewater management services in the city, reduce water losses and network deterioration, and help introduce energy saving practices and procedures into the municipal company's operations.

In addition to improvements in the quality of water and wastewater services in Aktobe, the municipal company Akbulak will also increase efficiency and reduce water losses. The company will introduce a Public Service Contract which will help boost operational efficiency.

On the same day EBRD and TOO Vodnye Resoursy Marketing a private water utility which provides water and wastewater services to the southern city of Shymkent, signed a loan agreement as well.

A combined financing package equivalent to €18 million will be used for modernizing the water and wastewater services in Shymkent.

Some €10 million of the loan will be provided by the bank, while the Kazakh government 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 modernization 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.

“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,” Anarbek Orman, General Director of TOO Vodnye Resoursy Marketing, said.

The EBRD and Kazakhstan are working on several other joint projects under the Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Modernization Framework under the Enhanced Partnership umbrella.

Since the beginning of its operations in Kazakhstan 22 years ago, the EBRD has invested over $ 7 billion in the country’s economy.