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EBRD First Vice President Charles Frank opens water plant in Tajikistan
"It is symbolic that, by unleashing underground water, we are unleashing the hidden resources of Tajikistan," Charles Frank, First Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), proclaimed today at the ribbon-cutting of the new Obi-Zulol water plant in Ura-Tyube, Tajikistan.
Mr Frank was in the Central Asian country to meet with President Imomali Rakhmonov and senior officials in the Government, as well as to check on EBRD projects, including the US$ 5.2 million invested in the water plant. Mr Frank and President Rakhmonov discussed the country’s reform efforts and ongoing economic recovery. "I am impressed with the progress that has been made towards achieving a free and sustainable market economy, in particular with privatisations and the reform of the banking sector," Mr Frank said. He also urged the Government to speed up energy and agriculture sector reforms, and to consolidate recent progress in the peace process.
As for the EBRD’s role going forward in Tajikistan, Mr Frank said, "In 2000 we are focusing on joint-venture projects, especially in resource-based industries and the financial sector, as well as technical assistance to help develop the investment environment and financing to help alleviate bottlenecks in infrastructure."
Mr Frank travelled to Obi-Zulol via Khoujand, where the EBRD financed emergency repairs to the local airport’s runway and drainage systems. The runway work was completed last week and will significantly increase safety, bringing Khoujand Airport into compliance with international standards. The Bank's US$ 3 million (€2.6 million) loan was complemented by grants of US$ 2.5 million from the Japan Fund for Post Conflict Support and US$ 350,000 from the Japan-Europe Co-operation Fund. "The work allows the airport to remain fully operational, providing a safe and reliable transport link between the country’s north and south – divided by mountains – and with the rest of the world," Mr Frank said.
At the water plant, Mr Frank remarked that the Bank’s financing has enabled Obi-Zulol to install and start the operation of a water and soft drinks bottling plant. The Bank is involved both as an equity investor – having invested US$ 1.7 million for 18.7 percent of the company’s capital and voting rights – and by lending US$ 3.5 million. Other investors are Aqua International Partners (40.7 percent), a US$ 300 million water-themed private equity fund sponsored by the Texas Pacific Group of the United States and partially financed by OPIC; Zafarabad JV of Tajikistan (24.7 percent); and the Consolidated Export Corporation from the BVI (15.9 percent). "We expect that the project will develop the industrial capacity of Tajikistan, increase the country's export revenues, and contribute to the transfer of management and technological know-how," Mr Frank said.
With a total commitment of €15.3 million, the EBRD has signed five projects in Tajikistan, all but one in the private sector. Its first project, a €4.3 million credit line to Orienbank for on-lending to SMEs, was approved in December 1996.
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