Formation | January 12, 2006 |
---|---|
Type | International financial institution |
Purpose | Crediting |
Headquarters | Almaty, Kazakhstan |
Region served | Eurasia |
Website | eabr.org |
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international development finance institution investing in the development of the economies, trade and other economic ties, and integration in Eurasian countries. The EDB was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The Bank has a branch in St. Petersburg and representative offices in Astana, Bishkek, Dushanbe, Yerevan, Minsk, and Moscow. [1]
The founding of the Eurasian Development Bank on 12 January 2006 was initiated by the Presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan. It began operating in June 2006. [1] [2]
Armenia and Tajikistan joined the EDB in 2009, Belarus in 2010, and the Kyrgyz Republic in 2011. [3] [4] In January 2013, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development recognised the EDB as a multilateral financial institution. [5]
In March 2022, the bank's eurobonds were downgraded by Fitch due to the sanctions prompted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine which prompted the bank to offer buybacks of the 2022 eurobonds up to the amount of $200 USD million. [6]
The present membership of the Bank consists of 6 countries. Other states and international organisations can become members by acceding to the Agreement Establishing the Bank. [7]
Ranked on the basis of paid-up capital (as of January 2023) [8] major shareholders include:
The EDB's mission is to promote market economies and economic growth in its member states and help expand trade and other economic ties between them by means of investment. [2]
The EDB's Strategy for 2022–2026 sets out the following development objectives: [12]
The EDB cooperates with other international organisations, national and international development institutions, academic and civil society organisations, associations and unions to support the Bank's activities in the member states and beyond.
The EDB has held observer statuses at:
The EDB:
The Eurasian Development Bank's activities in Eurasia include financing investment projects that help improve living standards and develop the business and financial environment in the countries by lending to state or private enterprises, public-private partnerships (PPPs), equity participation, issuing guarantees, financing private investment funds, and providing loans to commercial banks for corporate on-lending. The Bank also implements digital transformation projects in the EAEU+ and provides financing to banks, companies, and enterprises by investing in new and ongoing projects and supporting investment projects in the pipeline. The EDB's portfolio mainly consists of projects in transport infrastructure, digital systems, green energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and mechanical engineering. The projects that have been implemented with the EDB's participation and financing include the following:
The Eurasian Development Bank's Fund for Digital Initiatives was established on 30 June 2020. The aim of the fund is to support digital transformation in the EDB member states. The fund provides project financing and grants and supports digital projects in healthcare, trade, public governance, culture, tourism, sports, education, environmental protection, energy, data protection, transport, logistics, manufacturing, agriculture, the labour market and migration, as well as financial technology and smart cities. [30]
The first project implemented by the Fund for Digital Initiatives was the COVID-19-Free Travel mobile app aimed at allowing the free and safe movement of people among countries during the coronavirus pandemic. The app makes it possible to retrieve, store and display PCR test results and vaccination records. [31] [32]
The Technical Assistance Fund is the EDB's vehicle for providing expertise and support for projects in the pipeline to relieve potential borrowers from some of the additional burdens and speed up the drafting of project documents. The fund has three strands: technical assistance in preparing investment projects; technical assistance in expanding the Bank's investment activities; and subsidising interest rates in investment projects. [33]
The Bank's own research activities have made it a reputable think tank. The EDB is involved in major research and applied projects; prepares reports and recommendations on regional economic integration for member governments; regularly hosts conferences and round table discussions; and publishes sector- and theme-specific reviews, macroeconomic papers analysing economic developments in and forecasts for the region, as well as information on regional integration, development bank activities, and investment project financing in the EAEU+. In 2021, the EDB research team published the following studies: The International North–South Transport Corridor: Promoting Eurasia's Intra- and Transcontinental Connectivity; EDB Monitoring of Mutual Investments for the twelve CIS countries and Georgia; Investment in the Water and Energy Complex of Central Asia; and Uzbekistan and the EAEU: Prospects and Potential Impact of Economic Integration. [34] [35] [36]
The EDB works actively with financial institutions to mobilise long-term resources in the capital markets, which are the main source of funding for the Bank's investment activities. [37]
The sources of market financing include:
The Bank's charter capital totals US$7 billion, including US$1.5 billion of paid-in capital and US$5.5 billion of callable capital. The current investment portfolio as of 1 March 2022 totalled US$3.902 billion and the cumulative investment portfolio (including completed projects) US $10.448 billion. A total of 84 projects are being financed. [38]
In 2012, the Bank's management board approved an Environmental and Social Responsibility Framework aimed at reducing the negative environmental impacts of EDB-funded projects. The Bank's investment projects include those focusing on environmental protection, socio-economic development, and the efficient use of natural resources. [39] Also in 2012, the Bank joined the Multilateral Financial Institutions’ Working Group on Environment. [18]
In 2019, the EDB's management stated that the Bank would focus on environmental projects, primarily in the electricity and renewable energy sectors. [40]
In 2020, the Bank became a shareholder of the AIFC Green Finance Centre established to develop and promote green finance in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The Centre assists potential issuers, investors and market players in preparing for the issuance of green bonds on the AIFC Exchange. [41]
Between 2017 and 2020, the EDB financed renewable energy projects with a total installed capacity of about 500 MW to the tune of more than US$540 million. In 2020, the Bank approved a Renewable Energy Programme for 2020–2024, which will finance projects with an installed capacity of 500 MW for a total of up to US$600 million. By 2024, the EDB plans to extend up to US$1 billion to renewable energy projects. [42]
In 2021, the EDB financed the construction of the Azov wind farm, the first one in the Unified Energy System of Russia to remotely control the flows of both active and reactive power generated by the facility. [43]
In 2021, the EDB published its Green and Social Debt Instruments Framework. [44]
In September 2021, the Bank issued green bonds on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE). ACRA, as an accredited verifier, confirmed the issue's compliance with the ICMA green bond principles and included it in its register. [45] This was followed by the issuance in November of social bonds for projects implemented in Kazakhstan. [39]
In December 2021, the EDB and the Global Energy Association published a report entitled Green Technologies for Eurasia's Sustainable Future aimed at helping to reduce the carbon footprint in Eurasia. [46]
The Bank is also involved in the development of transport corridors across Eurasia. The relevant projects are expected to halve transport-related CO2 emissions on the China–EAEU–EU axis. The EDB is also working on a development scheme for Central Asia's water and energy complex. Realising the region's hydro potential will reduce CO2 emissions by 5 million tonnes per year while improvements in irrigation will help to minimise climate-related risks for Central Asia. The Bank's strategy for 2022–2026 prioritises environmental and resource efficiency. Each project is internally reviewed for its carbon footprint. [47]
The Bank’s management structure is made up of the Bank’s Council, the Management Board, and the Chairman of the Management Board.
The Bank’s Council is its supreme management body in charge of the general management of its operations. Each member state of the Bank appoints to the Council an authorised representative and his or her deputy who become Council members.
The Bank’s Management Board is a permanent collective executive body governed by the Bank’s Council.
The Chairman of the EDB Management Board is Nikolai Podguzov. [47]
Alfa-Bank JSC is the largest of the private banks in Russia. It was founded in 1990 by Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman, who remains the controlling owner. Headquartered in Moscow, it operates in seven countries, providing financial services to 22 million active corporate customers and over 1 million active retail clients as of 2021. On 1 March 2022, Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven left the bank's board of directors after coming under EU sanctions imposed in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. For the same reason, the bank has been sanctioned by US and EU authorities beginning in February 2022 and 2023, respectively.
BTA Bank is a Kazakhstan bank with headquarters in Almaty. As of 2013 it was the third largest lender by assets. In 2009, BTA Bank was subject of one of the world's biggest financial frauds totaling US$5 billion.
Erbolat Asqarbekūly Dossaev is a Kazakh politician serving as an äkım of Almaty since 31 January 2022. Prior to that, he was a National Bank of Kazakhstan chairman from 25 February 2019 and served as a Deputy Prime Minister from 29 August 2017 to 25 February 2019. He served as the Minister of Finance from 16 June 2003 to 5 April 2005, headed the Agency for Regulating Natural Monopolies, and later as the Health Minister from 5 April 2004 to 20 September 2006. In January 2013, Dossaev was appointed head of a reorganized Minister of National Economy.
Timur Askaruly Kulibayev is a Kazakh businessman.
The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international development finance institution serving the eleven member founding countries of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, a regional economic organization. It supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing loans, guarantees, and equity for development projects and trade transactions. BSTDB supports both public and private enterprises in member countries and does not attach political conditionality to its financing.
Narkhoz University is a university in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It offers courses in economics, business, finance, and law.
Eurasia is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concepts of Europe and Asia as distinct continents date back to antiquity, but their borders have historically been subject to change. For example to the ancient Greeks, Asia originally included Africa but they classified Europe as separate land. Eurasia is connected to Africa at the Suez Canal, and the two are sometimes combined to describe the largest contiguous landmass on Earth, Afro-Eurasia.
The Eurasian Economic Union is an economic union of five post-Soviet states located in Eurasia. The EAEU has an integrated single market. As of 2023, it consists of 183 million people and a gross domestic product of over $2.4 trillion.
The Customs Union of the Eurasian Economic Union or EAEU Customs Union is a customs union of 5 post-Soviet states consisting of all the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union which initially became effective on January 1, 2010 at the date of implementation of the common external tariff (CET) as the Customs Union of the Eurasian Economic Community or Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. It was inherited from the Eurasian Economic Community and is now regulated by Part Two of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, EAEU Customs Code, other international agreements and by decisions of supranational bodies as Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, Intergovernmental Council and Eurasian Economic Commission.
Vinokurov, Evgeny is a Russian economist, currently serving as the Chief Economist at Eurasian Development Bank. His research is in macro- and microeconomics, regional integration, global financial and economic architecture and international organizations.
Eurasian Bank JSC is the ninth-largest lender in Kazakhstan, headquartered in Almaty. It was founded in 1994 as a closed joint-stock company, and reregistered in 2003 as a joint stock company due to joint stock company law changes. The Bank is owned 100% by Eurasian Financial Company JSCwhich is 100% owned by three equal shareholders: Alexander Mashkevich, Alijan Ibragimov, Patokh Shodiyev
Almaty Management University (AlmaU) is a higher educational institution in Almaty, Kazakhstan, providing preparation of specialists of economic fields under bachelor's degree programs, MBA and DBA.
The Astana International Forum (AIF) is an international and regional platform for dialogue and a nonprofit organization headquartered in Astana, Kazakhstan. Previously called the Astana Economic Forum, it has been organized by the Government of Kazakhstan since 2008. The name change reflects the broader range of topics discussed at the forum, such as climate, food and energy security and is intended to draw of attendees from around the world. The Forum is organized by the Government of Kazakhstan, which includes the Economic Research Institute, Ministry of National Economy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A meeting is held each year in Astana in which more than eight thousand delegates from one hundred countries are brought together: they include chief executive officers, politicians, journalists, scientists and Nobel Prize laureates.
There is enormous potential for renewable energy in Kazakhstan, particularly from wind and small hydropower plants. The Republic of Kazakhstan has the potential to generate 10 times as much power as it currently needs from wind energy alone. But renewable energy accounts for just 0.6 percent of all power installations. Of that, 95 percent comes from small hydropower projects. The main barriers to investment in renewable energy are relatively high financing costs and an absence of uniform feed-in tariffs for electricity from renewable sources. The amount and duration of renewable energy feed-in tariffs are separately evaluated for each project, based on feasibility studies and project-specific generation costs. Power from wind, solar, biomass and water up to 35 MW, plus geothermal sources, are eligible for the tariff and transmission companies are required to purchase the energy of renewable energy producers. An amendment that introduces and clarifies technology-specific tariffs is now being prepared. It is expected to be adopted by Parliament by the end of 2014. In addition, the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business indicator shows the country to be relatively investor-friendly, ranking it in 10th position for investor protection.
Bakhytzhan Abdiruly Sagintayev is a Kazakh politician who was a Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, from 9 September 2016 until his resignation on 21 February 2019. He served as the Äkim of Almaty from 28 June 2019 until he was replaced by Erbolat Dosaev on 31 January 2022 following the 2022 Kazakh unrest which greatly affected the city.
The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is a financial hub in Astana, Kazakhstan that officially launched on July 5, 2018.
Vyacheslav Kim is a Kazakhstani economist, financier, cofounder, shareholder and chairman of the Board of Directors at Kaspi.kz and President of the Kazakhstan National Taekwondo Federation.
Galimzhan Yessenov is a Kazakh businessman. He is the owner and major shareholder of Jusan Bank, and a major shareholder of mobile operator Kcell.
Igor Valentinovich Finogenov is a Russian banker and entrepreneur. Since 2009, he has been a member of the Council of Foreign Investors under the President of Kazakhstan.
Jaslan Hasenūly Mädiev is a Kazakh politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry since 2024.