The 10-year loan with a three-year grace period will be split into two tranches of €5.7 million and €7.9 million respectively. It is expected that second tranche will become available in 2013.

The EBRD’s financing will be used to support the extension and rehabilitation of wastewater collection systems in southern Kazakhstan. The loan will finance the company’s current development needs including the implementation of work to upgrade the existing wastewater treatment plant and the introduction of energy efficient technologies coupled with better environmental standards.

In line with its priority investment programme, the company plans to initiate environmentally sound management and disposal of sludge. It will introduce a new sludge treatment facility to catch methane, which would allow this biogas be used as a low-cost fuel on-site, and reduce the quantity and enhance quality of the treated sludge.

The new biogas plant will generate 4.7 million kW of electricity annually, covering 63 per cent of the waste water treatment plant’s electricity needs. The project is expected to result in a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions amounting to 29,000 tCO2 equivalent annually.

Via this project, the EBRD is continuing to provide support to a leading company in the country’s water utility segment.

“With this key infrastructure investment, the Bank’s support is aimed at helping local customers to have an efficient, reliable and quality access to both water and wastewater services. Our modernisation project will improve the environmental situation in Shymkent and will set good foundations for the city’s further development,” said Ekaterina Miroshnik, EBRD Senior Banker for Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure.

“We hope that with EBRD loan resources we will be able to resolve difficulties and problems of the wastewater plant. Introduction of the biogas plant in Shymkent will be one of the first of its kind in Kazakhstan, and will allow us to overcome a number of problems,” said Rakhimjan Shamsutdinov, General Director of Vodnye Resursy Marketing.

Since the beginning of its operations in Kazakhstan, the EBRD has invested over €2.8 billion in over 130 projects in various sectors of the Kazakh economy, mobilising additional investments in excess of about €7 billion, with 65 per cent of the projects’ being investments into the development of the country’s private sector.