The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Alikhan Smailov, and Alain Pilloux, the Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, agreed to launch new projects and invest additional substantial funds in Kazakhstan
Astana, 20.09.2022.
The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Alikhan Smailov, held a meeting last week with Alain Pilloux, the Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Banking Operations. The parties discussed the EBRD’s participation in the implementation of new sweeping economic reforms in Kazakhstan, plans for investment in 2023, as well as the priority areas of cooperation in the future.
Alikhan Smailov said that during the last 30 years of cooperation with the EBRD about 300 projects worth more than $10 billion were implemented in various sectors of the economy. “The Government is now implementing large-scale reforms set by the Head of State, which are aimed at qualitative modernization of the economy. They should provide a significant increase in the welfare of our citizens, so we welcome the participation and support of the EBRD in this direction,” the Prime Minister said.
For his part, Alain Pilloux noted that continuation of the existing and launch of new projects in Kazakhstan is one of the EBRD’s priorities. “Kazakhstan can rely on the EBRD for 100%. We are also interested in helping your country to achieve decarbonization of the economy by 2060. We consider the conversion of Almaty CHP-2 from coal to gas to be the flagship project in this direction. This is a very large and important project, in which we plan to invest substantial funds,” Alain Pilloux said.
Pilloux also said that the Bank is ready to continue financing the development of renewable energy sources and other infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan. “A lot of things are being done by the Government of Kazakhstan, so we are ready to develop and implement larger projects,” he emphasized. Summing up the meeting, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov confirmed the interest of the Kazakh Government to increase interaction with the EBRD Bank in all mutually beneficial directions.
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