BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 27
By Natavan Rzayeva - Trend:
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested almost $690 million in 22 projects in Uzbekistan in 2021, Trend reports via the bank.
The bank’s funds promoted renewable power generation, green lending, the upgrade of key infrastructure, and domestic small businesses. The previous record for the annual investment in Uzbekistan was in 2019 when the EBRD pledged $575 million through 13 projects in various sectors of the national economy.
Among the highlights of the EBRD’s activity, last year were its efforts to help Uzbekistan develop its low carbon pathway and achieve carbon neutrality in the power sector by 2050.
The bank invested 21.8 million euros to help construct and put into operation a 100 MW photovoltaic solar power plant near the city of Samarkand (Uzbekistan).
More than 170,000 people living in the Namangan region of eastern Uzbekistan will receive access to fresh drinking water and wastewater services following a major rehabilitation program financed by an EBRD loan of $70 million.
The EBRD and the city of Samarkand agreed to develop a Green City Action Plan, which will help introduce carbon-neutral electric buses in the city.
In the financial sector, the EBRD strengthened digital finance and boosted financial inclusion in the country by acquiring a 20 percent stake in TBC Bank Uzbekistan, the country’s first digital bank.
It provided loans of $10 million and $25 million under the EBRD’s Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) to HamkorBank and UzPromstroybank to support small private sector companies investing in green technology.
The Bank supported a large-scale foreign investment in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry by providing $60 million to Indorama Agro, an agricultural enterprise engaged in cotton and other rotational crop farming. The project is promoting the modernization of agriculture and better economic opportunities for the local population.
The EBRD also financed the development and expansion of a local pharmaceutical producer Nika Pharm and the region’s only producer of glass wool Ecoclimat, which received EBRD loans of $5 million each.
In 2021 the EBRD had 49 projects with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in various parts of Uzbekistan. The Bank reached out to more than 600 individual entrepreneurs and small businesses through its lending tools and advisory services. The share of advisory projects supporting women-led businesses grew to 45 percent of the total compared with 33 percent in 2020. Also, more than 40 percent of projects with SMEs offered modern digital solutions.
To date, the EBRD has invested more than 2.85 billion euros through 106 projects in Uzbekistan.
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