€10 million financing to upgrade key infrastructure in Osh City
Over 300,000 residents of Osh City and two neighbouring municipalities will have better solid waste services thanks to a joint financing programme organised by the EBRD, the European Union (EU) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The improved services will contribute to better public health and proper functioning of municipalities during the coronavirus pandemic.
The €10 million financing package consists of a €2 million loan from the EBRD, a capital investment grant of €5 million from the EU and a €3 million loan from the EIB. The funds will support the construction of a new sanitary landfill, infrastructure upgrades and the renovation of waste collection points.
This investment is strengthened by a €0.95 million grant covering engineering support, project execution, as well as development of municipal enterprise from the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund and the EBRD’s Early Transition Countries Fund (Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taipei China and the United Kingdom).
Today specialised equipment, which includes 12 waste collection vehicles and 32 waste containers, was handed over to the municipal enterprise Osh-Tazalyk during the ceremony attended by the Mayor of Osh City, Taalaibek Sarybashov and Head of Osh-Tazalyk, Nurbek Ismailov.
Head of EU Delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic, Ambassador Eduard Auer also noted the importance of the event, saying the following:
“Proper functioning and provision of municipal services has always been demanded by the population. To help our Kyrgyz partners in this regard, the EU jointly with the EBRD and the EIB runs several projects in many municipalities across Kyrgyzstan with the aim to help improve provided services. Today we are handing over the first part of modern equipment which will allow Osh-Tazalyk to upgrade its infrastructure and increase the effectiveness of its operations.”
An additional 1,136 containers and 12 waste collection vehicles, landfill operation equipment and machinery will arrive by the end of the year to be deployed in Osh and the smaller neighbouring municipalities of Kyzyl-Kyshtak and Toloikon. Following the equipment delivery, Osh-Tazalyk will launch vital upgrades of the solid waste infrastructure.
The project will also help achieve better corporate governance at Osh-Tazalyk, transparent accounting and increased payment collection due to improved and timely services.
Grant funds of €0.31 million provided by the EU were used to conduct financial, technical and environmental assessment of the project.
EBRD Director of the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, Neil McKain said:
“We will keep supporting the Kyrgyz Republic in improving the lives and health of people through financing public sector projects which address the well-being needs of local communities”.
Between 2014 to 2020, the EU supported the Kyrgyz Republic with funds worth €174 million deployed in such sectors as education, rural development and the rule of law. Additionally, the EU provided around €90 million through grants aimed at the support of investments, mainly in the water sector.
The European Investment Bank invested EUR 112 million in support of sustainable social and economic development of the Kyrgyz Republic. Since the beginning of our operations in the country, in 2017, the EU bank supported projects in some of the key sectors of Kyrgyz economy – agriculture, fisheries and forestry, as well as in solid waste management, water and sewage infrastructure and energy distribution.
To date, the EBRD has invested €795 million through 191 projects in the economy of the Kyrgyz Republic, with a majority of investments supporting private entrepreneurship. The EBRD has invested in 30 water and wastewater, solid waste and transport improvement projects in the country worth over €236 million, including €114 million loans provided by the Bank and €122 million grants mainly from the European Union and the government of Switzerland. The EBRD has launched a response and recovery package, which includes a Vital Infrastructure Support Programme recognising the critical role of the maintenance of key infrastructure services.