The EDB Council reviews the work conducted in 2019, discusses several investment projects, and sets new objectives
Nur-Sultan, 18 December 2019
The Council of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) met under the chairmanship of Askar Mamin, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan. The participants in the meeting were representatives plenipotentiary of the Bank’s shareholders, including Mher Grigoryan, Deputy Prime Minister, Armenia; Maksim Yermolovich, Minister of Finance, Belarus; Alikhan Smailov, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Kazakhstan; Sanzhar Mukanbetov, Minister of Economy, Kyrgyz Republic; Anton Siluanov, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Sergey Storchak, Deputy Minister of Finance, Russia; and Faiziddin Qahhorzoda, Minister of Finance, Tajikistan.
The Council discussed the results of the EDB’s work in 2019 and set objectives and approved the budget for 2020. The participants also considered several investment projects submitted for approval, digital initiatives, and the expansion of the Bank’s membership.
In addition, the Council adopted a financing programme for renewable energy projects, which are among the Bank’s investment priorities.
The EDB’s investment portfolio as of 1 December 2019 exceeded US $4 billion, up 18% (US $621 million) compared to 2018. Over eleven months of the year, the EDB signed 23 new investment projects for a total of approximately US $1.2 billion in the energy (27.9%), infrastructure (22.4%), financial (15.0%) and other sectors. In terms of distribution by countries, Russia (42.8%) and Kazakhstan (42%) have the largest shares in the investment portfolio. The share of Belarus is 11.2%, Armenia 2.3%, the Kyrgyz Republic 1.6%, and Tajikistan 0.1%.
This year, the EDB launched settlement services for local banks as part of its Bank for Banks concept, and local exchanges. As of 1 December, it maintained 134 accounts for 40 financial institutions.
As part of the meeting, the EDB also officially opened its office at the Astana International Financial Centre, having become the first development bank operating in it.