Team Europe, EIB, EBRD, and Japan donation help improve water supply in Kyrgystan's city of Uzgen

• Specialised water supply system maintenance equipment delivered to the city of Uzgen
• 48,000 local residents will have access to safe drinking water
• 10,000 customers will have access to wastewater services

The European Investment Bank, the European Union, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Japan jointly donated EUR 400,000 worth of specialized equipment to Kyrgyzstani city of Uzgen allowing this ancient trading post to upgrade its water and wastewater services.

The municipality has limited water supply services and no centralised sewage system. It is currently implementing an ambitious upgrade of its key utilities supported by a financing package provided by the Team Europe, including the EU and the EIB, EBRD and Japan.

Safe drinking water and modern sewage for Uzgen

Once the upgrade is finished, some 60,000 citizens of Uzgen will benefit from a secure, uninterrupted supply of safe drinking water and some 10,000 will get access to modern wastewater services increasing the quality of life in the city and resilience in crisis like COVID-19. City authorities plan to quadruple the number of connection to the city`s wastewater once the investment programme is fully implemented and the network is further extended. The grants complementing the investment will also allow municipal water utility company to improve its management and corporate governance principles.

The investment from Team Europe, EBRD and Japan includes a $2.75 million loan from EBRDS, €2.5 million loan from the EIB, a grant of €5.6 million from the EU, and €0.4 million grant from Japan.

Maintenance vehicles and equipment were handed over to the municipal enterprise in a ceremony attended by Mukhtar Khalmatov, mayor of Uzgen, Azamat Duisheev, Director of municipal water company, Eduard Auer, EU Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, and Neil McKain, EBRD Director for Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Long term investments in social and economic development of Kyrgystan

The European Union supported the Kyrgyz Republic with €174 million of financing provided from 2014 to 2020 alone for improvements in areas such as education, integrated rural development and the rule of law. During the same period, the EU provided €90,5 million in grants to support investments, mainly in the national water sector.

The European Investment Bank, the bank of the European Union, 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 EIB 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.

The EBRD has invested in 24 water and wastewater improvement projects in the Kyrgyz Republic, worth over €187 million, including €72 million worth of loans and €115 million in grants, mainly from the EU 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 maintaining key infrastructure services.

To date, the EBRD has invested a total €795 million through 191 projects in the Kyrgyz Republic, with the majority of investments supporting private entrepreneurship.