Projects in Uzbekistan

Project Summary Documents

Project Summary Documents (PSDs) are disclosed for each project prior to Board consideration. They contain project descriptions, financial details, client information, environmental issues, tender guidelines, and contact details. PSDs for private sector projects are disclosed at least 30 days prior to Board consideration and for state sector projects, at least 60 days.

Project Summary Documents 

Signed projects

Board approval is the final stage in the project approval process. After Board approval, the EBRD and the client sign the deal and it becomes legally binding. Signed project lists reflect year-end data.

Signed projects  (0.1Mb) 

Case studies

Entrepreneurs have ready access to credit through the EBRD’s small business programme

No loan is too small for the Japan-Uzbekistan Small Business Programme. The programme provides finance to micro businesses (under ten people) and small enterprises (under 100 people) that have previously been unable to obtain bank loans. The EBRD is providing a €19.1 million credit line to Uzbek partner banks to on-lend to these micro and small enterprises (MSEs). Our funds are matched by technical assistance finance from the Japan-Europe Cooperation Fund.

Micro businesses typically start as sole traders or with other family members. They need just a little finance to get started or expand but find it difficult to obtain any funds from the formal financial sector because they lack collateral or a credit history. Demand for finance is high in Uzbekistan, which has many entrepreneurs in craft-based industries, trade and agricultural production.

Four local partner banks under the programme are currently disbursing 200 loans a month in seven regions of Uzbekistan. The programme started in 2001 in a challenging legal and regulatory environment and has so far disbursed 1,700 loans to MSEs totalling €4.4 million. The key condition for lending is the ability of the business to repay the loan, as shown by their business activity and approach rather than credit history, collateral or relations with a bank.

The average loan is under €3,000 although the programme offers loans from €20 to €100,000. Loans are disbursed on average within three to four days after application (down from three to four weeks when the programme started). The repayment rate has been 100 per cent so far. The EBRD is providing consultants funded by the Japan-Europe Cooperation Fund to assist the partner banks in setting up MSE lending operations. This includes simplifying approval and disbursement procedures, and training credit personnel.

Zarafshan Newmont gold project

Uzbekistan's economy received a much needed boost in 1993 following an EBRD investment in the Zarafshan Newmont Joint Venture ("ZNJV"). The US$ 105 million loan, the first ever direct investment in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS's) mining sector, generated vital hard currency and underpinned essential economic reforms in the country. As the project has expanded EBRD has provided two further loans, each of US$ 30 million to ZNJV which has become one of the most efficient, lowest-cost secondary mining operations in the world.

ZNJV is a 50/50 joint venture between Newmont Mining Corporation and two entities of the Republic of Uzbekistan-the State Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources and Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combinat. It consists of a crushing and leaching operation, processing existing stockpiles of low-grade oxide ore mined over the past 35 years from adjacent Muruntau pit, the largest open pit gold mine in the world. Construction began in October 1993 and production in 1995. Over 90 tonnes of gold have been produced and life of mine is now estimated at a further 10 years.

Tashkent solid waste management rehabilitation

Tashkent's 2.3 million residents can now appreciate cleaner surroundings following a US$ 19.2 million EBRD investment, provided in 1998, to improve the city's waste management system. The project, co-financed with the World Bank, is the EBRD's first investment in municipality infrastructure in Uzbekistan.

The loan has financed the renewal of the waste collection vehicle fleet; construction of four transfer stations; purchase of landfill equipment, including bio-medical waste treatment equipment; and the environmental rehabilitation of one landfill and the closure of another.

The investment has also enabled institution building, with the EBRD attracting donor funds from the Japanese government and EC TACIS programme, and further private sector participation in infrastructure development. The investment project has already resulted in significant environmental and public health and safety improvements. It has also helped the City to develop a strategic municipal solid waste management plan.

Recognising the important role SMEs play in developing Uzbekistan's economy, the EBRD has established two SME Credit Lines with four Uzbek banks, totalling US$ 180 million.

SME Credit Lines

The credit lines - extended to the National Bank of Uzbekistan, Asaka Bank, UzPromstroyBank and Pakhta Bank - have provided much needed medium term financing for on-lending to SMEs.

The financing has enabled the start up or revitalisation of about 90 companies in industries including textiles, light manufacturing, marble and granite processing, and food and beverage manufacturing. It has also provided almost eight thousand employment opportunities for the local labour force and promoted intra-regional trade, particularly in the CIS.

The credit lines have also fostered institution building, with the EBRD offering senior credit advisors to assist with the development of credit assessment expertise in the participating banks.

Following the successful implementation of the two SME credit lines in Uzbekistan, the EBRD is now considering a third credit line for the country.

Nestlé Uzbekistan

A framework guarantee facility of €7.5 million with Nestlé Uzbekistan was signed in July 2003 with the initial participation of a local bank (Uzjilsberbank - €2.5 million). The Bank's guarantee is counter-guaranteed by Nestlé SA. With the Bank's guarantee Uzjilsberbank provided a loan in local currency equivalent to €2.5 million for working capital needs.

The project will help Nestlé Uzbekistan increase its access to local currency borrowing, while Uzjilsberbank will gain experience in structured financing and diversify its private sector loan portfolio.

Bursel Tashkent Textile

A €10.3 million loan to a private textile company in Chirchik was signed in December 2003. The company, Bursel Tashkent Textile, will manufacture knitted cotton garments primarily for export to North American and European markets. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development is providing a €4 million parallel loan for this project. The sponsor is Bursel Textile, a part of the Turkish Bursel Group, which has been operating successfully in Uzbekistan since 1991. Uzbekistan is one of the world’s largest cotton producers, and the project will help develop one of its key industries (cotton processing).

The project will create about 1,200 new jobs and will be one of the first plants in this industry where the majority of shares are privately owned.