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- EBRD lends close to US$ 2 billion in Central Asia and Mongolia
- Sustainable infrastructure, SME support and green lending are top investment areas
- Uzbekistan is the leading recipient of EBRD funds for sixth year running
In 2025 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested almost US$2 billion (€1.72 billion) through 120 projects in Central Asia and Mongolia. This represents one of the Bank’s strongest operational results in the region for more than a decade.
Uzbekistan was the leading recipient of EBRD funding in 2025 for the sixth year running (over US$ 1 billion (€880 million). The EBRD provided almost US$ 440 million (€378 million) for projects in Kazakhstan, US$ 218 million (€188 million) in Mongolia, US$212 million (€183 million) in the Kyrgyz Republic and US$100 million (€88 million) in Tajikistan.
Almost one third of the EBRD funds supported sustainable infrastructure projects and another third went to local banks for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), women and young entrepreneurs, as well as for climate resilience and resource efficiency lending. A further 15 per cent of the Bank’s loans were channelled to support private companies engaged in manufacturing and providing services across Central Asia. Many of these projects stimulated the inflow of foreign direct investment. Close to 68 per cent of loans supported private entrepreneurial initiative and 53 per cent of the EBRD investment went to promote green economy projects.
Renewable energy
In Uzbekistan the EBRD’s financing package of US$ 142 million (€121 million) will support the development of Central Asia’s largest combined solar photovoltaic (1 GW) and battery energy storage system (BESS, 1,336 MWh) plant. Implemented jointly with ACWA Power, the project also marks the first investment by Japanese partners in Uzbekistan’s renewable energy and battery storage sector.
The EBRD also arranged a financing package of up to US$ 195.5 million (€168.5 million) for a 300 MW greenfield solar plant and a 75 MWh BESS facility in the Kashkadarya region of Uzbekistan. The project is owned and developed by Masdar, a global renewable and clean energy company.
In Tajikistan the launch of all six hydroelectric units of the Qairokkum hydropower plant marked the completion of a major renewable energy upgrade. The plant’s installed capacity has increased from 126 MW to 174 MW, ensuring a reliable electricity supply to 500,000 people in the Sughd province.
Sustainable infrastructure
In Uzbekistan the EBRD’s sovereign loan of up to US$ 250 million (€240 million) will finance the modernisation of 110 irrigation pumping stations in 10 regions. New energy efficient pumps are expected to reduce electricity consumption by 251,000 MWh and cut CO₂‑equivalent emissions by more than 117,000 tonnes a year.
A financial package of up to €45 million provided by the EBRD and the European Union (EU) will finance an increase in cargo handling capacity at the port of Aktau, Kazakhstan’s primary maritime gateway on the Caspian Sea, which was identified as one of the key elements of the Transcaspian Corridor.
In Tajikistan the EBRD’s sovereign loan of up to €38 million and an US$ 86.7 million (€83.5 million) grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help to upgrade and expand the road from Dangara to Guliston. This road is an important link between the north and south of the Khatlon region – an area which generates more than 53 per cent of Tajikistan’s agricultural output and is home to 35 per cent of the country’s population.
In the Kyrgyz Republic the EBRD extended a €62 million sovereign loan, which will help to build a new 53 km, 500 kV transmission line between the towns of Kemin and Balykchy near Issyk-Kul in the north-east of the country. The funds will also allow for a new 500 kV substation to be built in Balykchy.
A financing programme of up to €23.8 million from the EBRD and EU will support the reconstruction and automation of a section of the Western Great Chui Canal, the largest irrigation system in the Kyrgyz Republic. The EBRD and EU also provided up to €38 million to facilitate critical infrastructure upgrades, including water intakes, pumping stations, main canals and distribution networks in the Jalalabad and Naryn regions of the country.
Urban sustainability advanced under the EBRD Green Cities programme. Osh in the Kyrgyz Republic joined the initiative, with plans to improve water treatment facilities and shift to greener public transport thanks to the Bank’s loan of up to €14.7 million and a grant of up to €8.3 million.
In Mongolia, a specialised cardiovascular hospital will be built with the EBRD’s sovereign loan of up to US$ 34.9 million (€33.5 million) in Ulaanbaatar under its Green Cities Action Plan.
Financial sector and support for small business
In Mongolia nearly 74 per cent of the EBRD’s annual investment was channelled to the real economy through partner financial institutions. Projects included an A/B loan of up to US$ 147 million (€135 million) to XacBank under the Youth in Business programme – the EBRD’s largest transaction with a Mongolian bank to date. A US$ 20 million (€16.8 million) loan to Khan Bank represented the EBRD’s first agribusiness dedicated facility in Mongolia and Central Asia; and a US$ 20 million (€17.2 million) package to Golomt Bank supported women and youth led enterprises and facilitated trade.
In Uzbekistan projects with partner banks generated almost 39 per cent of the Bank’s annual business in the country. They included transactions with Hamkorbank, Ipak Yuli Bank and Universalbank for a total of US$ 125 million (€108 million) in support of SMEs and green investments.
In Kazakhstan three loans totalling US$ 60 million (€57.6 million) were provided to Bank CenterCredit. The funds will be used to create growth opportunities for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises led or owned by young people or women. KMF bank also received a loan of up to US$ 25 million (€22.9 million) to support women entrepreneurs. Another local microlender, Arnur Credit, received a loan of up to US$ 7 million (€6 million) under the EBRD’s Youth in Business programme.
In 2025 the EBRD supported more than 4,600 SMEs in Central Asia and Mongolia with business advice, training, mentoring and other business development opportunities. Three companies from the region (Kazakhstan’s logistics company Jana Post and a greenhouse vegetable producer LST Agro as well as Tajikistan’s food production company Oilai Barakat) joined the EBRD Blue Ribbon programme for fast-growing and high-potential SMEs.
The Bank launched its first regional Star Venture programme in Central Asia, bringing together high-potential startups from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan into a single cohort. The initiative aims to strengthen regional connectivity, accelerate innovation and enable such companies to grow beyond the region.
In 2025 the EBRD signed 31 risk-sharing transactions with 26 companies across Central Asia. Such projects, where the EBRD commits to sharing half of the risk on loans provided by partner banks, help to unlock development opportunities for domestic businesses.
Last year the EBRD marked the 10th anniversary of its Women in Business programme in Central Asia and Mongolia. Over the past decade, more than 100,000 women entrepreneurs from the region received financial support totalling about US$ 365 million (€305 million), and more than 17,000 women have received advice, training and mentoring services.
The EBRD is the largest institutional investor in Central Asia. To date it has financed 1,250 projects for more than €21 billion.