AKIPRESS.COM - The EBRD and the government of Kazakhstan are supporting a programme of water and wastewater improvements in the southern city of Shymkent with a combined financing package equivalent to €18 million.

The Bank will lend up to €10 million to a private water utility, TOO Vodnye Resoursy Marketing, which provides water and wastewater services to Shymkent, to be used for modernising the water and wastewater services in the city. The government of Kazakhstan will provide a capital grant in tenge equivalent to €8 million, and TOO Vodnye Resoursy Marketing will invest the equivalent of €500,000 into the modernisation project.

Privately-owned Vodnye Resoursy Marketing is among the best utility companies in the country in terms of its operational and financial performance, despite working in a low-income city. The new project will further demonstrate the benefits of involving private companies in providing public services in Kazakhstan.

The loan agreement between the EBRD and the company was signed in Astana during the visit of EBRD President, Sir Suma Chakrabarti.