OREANDA-NEWS. November 09, 2007. Road maintenance in Tajikistan will be strongly boosted with a $4 million sovereign loan from the EBRD and an additional $2 million co-financing grant from the Early Transition Countries (ETC) Multi Donor Fund. The financing will be used to replace old equipment which urgently needs to be renewed, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

The ETC Fund grant has been made possible through a special contribution made by the Government of the Netherlands. Additional technical cooperation funds worth ?500,000 will also be provided by the ETC Fund to assist with procurement of equipment, other aspects of project implementation and development of a road management maintenance plan. The EU has supported the project with the financing of a feasibility study.

After years of lack of investment the road network in the Central Asian republic is in urgent need of rehabilitation. Studies have shown that today more than 70 per cent of the national road network is considered to be in poor condition. The government has therefore embarked on an ambitious road rehabilitation and construction programme to avoid Tajikistan being excluded from international trade flows.

The EBRD project complements this work by providing the Government with the essential road maintenance equipment needed to keep the roads in good condition once the present rehabilitation programme is completed. Furthermore, the Bank is providing technical cooperation to assist the Government to improve the effectiveness of their road maintenance effort.

Masaru Honma, EBRD Director for Central Asia, said the Bank warmly welcomes the importance the Government of Tajikistan attaches to the development of the country’s road infrastructure. He emphasised that the EBRD is assisting Tajikistan to reach its full economic potential and also to benefit from enhanced regional integration.

Jumahon Zukhurov, First Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Tajikistan, said the Project was very important in order to increase the technical and institutional capacity of road maintenance in our country, particularly considering the big capital investments made by Tajikistan in road rehabilitation with the support of international financial institutions and donor governments.

To-date, the EBRD has invested more than 50 million EUR in 27 projects in Tajikistan. The country is part of the ETC initiative which aims to stimulate market activity in the participating countries by using a streamlined approach to financing more projects, including smaller ones, mobilising more investment, and encouraging economic reform.

Contributors to the multi-donor ETC Fund are Canada, Finland, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taipei China and the United Kingdom. Many donors, including the United States and the European Union, also support the ETC Initiative through bilateral funding channelled directly to specific ETC projects .