Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The European Investment Bank (EIB) may open a representative office in Uzbekistan.

This was announced during a meeting of the Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the State Investment Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sukhrob Kholmuradov with the Vice-President of the EIB Vazil Hudák.

During the negotiations, the European Investment Bank proposed to establish a regional representative office of the bank in Uzbekistan. Currently, the EIB Regional Office for the Transcaucasian Countries is located in Georgia.

The Vice-President of the Bank noted that the European Investment Bank is ready to cooperate with Uzbekistan in other directions as well, including the areas of environmental protection, support for small and medium-sized businesses and the social sector.

“Uzbekistan, as a country that is developing very dynamically, where great changes are observed, is of interest to us. We would like to intensify our activities in Uzbekistan,” said Vazil Hudák. “In October 2017, we signed an agreement with the government of Uzbekistan, thanks to which the first steps towards cooperation began. During this time, we signed financial agreements for two projects - a project to improve energy efficiency and improve water supply. ”

The energy efficiency project aims to ensure that both private and state-owned companies can take measures to reduce electricity costs, as part of their production, their activities, as well as in public institutions. The reality is that energy costs in Uzbekistan are three times more than in Germany. The European Investment Bank allocated 100 million euros for the project. It is planned to implement it jointly with the World Bank, the national partner of Uzbekistan will be the Ministry of Economy.

The second project is a project to improve water supply, where the partner is the Ministry of Housing and Communal Services of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

During the visit, the vice-president held a meeting with the leadership of the ministry, where it was noted that this sector is very relevant for Uzbekistan. It covers issues of aggregation, introduction of new technologies in water management and water supply. The European Investment Bank will allocate 100 million euros for this project.

It was noted that funding for these projects may be combined with technical assistance.