EDB Delegation Concluded Negotiations in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Government to Consider Joining EDB

On 6 August, an EDB delegation headed by Nikita Tolstikov, Deputy Chairman of the EDB Executive Board, negotiated in Bishkek the Kyrgyz Republic’s joining the EDB.

As a result, the special commission for Kyrgyzstan’s joining the Agreement Establishing the Eurasian Development Bank under Tazhikan Kalimbetova, Minister of Finance of Kyrgyzstan, made a positive decision. This commission, which comprises representatives of the National Bank, the Government, and a number of ministries of the Kyrgyz Republic, resolved to bring this matter before the Government of Kyrgyzstan in the nearest future.

In April 2008, the EDB Council considered a formal request by Tajikistan on joining the Agreement Establishing the Eurasian Development Bank and resolved that the member states will prepare the necessary procedures for considering this request. Similar requests were received from Belarus and Armenia.

“Given some favourable circumstances and the active stance taken by the Bank and our partners, the number of EDB members is likely to increase in this year”, said Nikita Tolstikov. “The entry of new members is a mutually beneficial process. On the one hand, the EDB is committed to becoming an efficient financial mechanism for promoting integration, primarily within the framework of EurAsEC and the CIS and, in doing so, its success will depend directly on its ability to expand its geography. On the other hand, to the interested countries, membership of the EDB is the most reliable way to access the Bank’s resources for financing their strategic investment projects. In parallel with the discussion of procedures and terms of joining, the Bank now considers financing some promising projects that our partners have come up with”.