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Swiss grants for EBRD's Uzbek, Kazakh, Romanian projectss
Romanian deal to give Switzerland carbon credits under Kyoto protocol
Switzerland is signing three deals during the 2003 Annual Meeting of the EBRD in Tashkent that will bring total Swiss financial assistance to various Bank projects since 1991 to more than 110 million Swiss francs (approx €75 million) in the form of donor grants.
Switzerland will provide nearly €15 million for the three deals. These cover the rebuilding of a heating system for the Uzbek city of Andijan, setting up business consultancy services in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and revamping the heating system in the centre of the Romanian capital Bucharest.
Switzerland is granting €3 million to set up a Business Advisory Services programme for Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The programme, originally launched with the help of Japan, assists private firms by helping them identify problems, and then uses local business consultants to solve them through highly focused consulting projects, including market research, business planning and computerised management information systems.
The Swiss government is contributing $4.3 million towards the urgent reconstruction of a portion of the district heating system for Andijan. Japan is providing a separate grant of $1.5 million for the same project. As this programme will decrease harmful emissions significantly, the potential for generating carbon credits under the Kyoto protocol will be examined.
Finally, a grant of €7.1 million will go towards upgrading the heating network in Bucharest, a project which will lower energy costs and bring about reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Switzerland and Romania will also use this deal to generate carbon credits.
The agreements for these projects were signed today at a meeting in Tashkent between Switzerland's Minister of Economic Affairs Joseph Deiss and EBRD President Jean Lemierre. The remaining bilateral agreement on the Swiss grant for Andijan was signed by Mr Deiss and Uzbek Minister of External Economic Affairs Elyor Ghaniyev.
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