OREANDA-NEWS. June 18, 2014. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is continuing to support the programme of modernisation in the city of Almaty aimed at improving energy efficiency and upgrading public utilities and transport.

A loan of USD 34 million, provided by the EBRD for the benefit of the municipal communal enterprise Almaty Kala Zharyk, comprises two elements: USD 17 million from the EBRD’s resources and USD 17 million provided by the Green Energy Special Fund, an EBRD-administered fund supported by international donors. Technical cooperation grants will be also provided for a total amount of EUR780,000, of which EUR 400,000 will come from the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Cooperation Fund and EUR 380,000 from the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund.

The project documents were signed in Almaty by EBRD President, Sir Suma Chakrabarti; the Akim of Almaty, Akhmetzhan Esimov; and Baurzhan Ibraev, Director of Almaty Kala Zharyk, during the President’s visit to Kazakhstan.

Sir Suma commented: “The EBRD is very pleased to support the introduction of modern energy-efficient lighting for the streets of Almaty. This will result in significant energy savings for the city and is yet another of our projects that furthers the Green Economy agenda of Kazakhstan. We have already financed the purchase of 400 new environmentally friendly  buses and almost 200 trolleybuses for the city and we will continue to support the modernisation programme in Almaty.”

Akhmetzhan Esimov said: “Since 2009, in cooperation with the EBRD, we have implemented four transport projects for the total amount of USD 120 million. Today’s signing of an agreement with the EBRD will allow us to launch a new project to modernise street lighting, in line with the Green Economy strategy of Kazakhstan. This project will enable Almaty to begin important work to bring innovation and energy-efficient technologies into the street lighting system of our city.”

Street lighting is responsible for fully 25 per cent of the Akimat’s current electricity consumption. The new energy-efficient technologies will allow the city to minimise electricity consumption (which will reduce CO2 emissions) and reduce operating and maintenance costs.

After Almaty, EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti will also visit Kyzylorda and co-chair the Foreign Investors’ Council in Borovoe, where he will give a keynote speech.

Since the beginning of its operations in Kazakhstan, the EBRD has invested close to USD 6.5 billion in the country’s economy.