The EDB’s financing for BAKAD is announced Europe’s transport project of the year
Moscow, Almaty, 15 February 2021. PFI Awards announced the Eurasian Development Bank’s project (EDB) to finance the construction of the Big Almaty Ring Road (BAKAD) the transport deal of the year in Europe.
The Project Finance International (PFI) Awards is among the most prestigious in project finance.
“We are very pleased to receive this award, which is sort of Oscar in project finance. The EDB as a senior lender worked in cooperation with its partners – international development banks.
“BAKAD was the first international public-private partnership project in Central Asia. For the Bank, its implementation strategically means the ongoing and step-by-step creation of the Europe–Western China transport corridor. The PFI award means that the foreign financial community recognises the EDB as an advanced bank operating to high international standards. The road is of paramount importance to Almaty Region and Kazakhstan’s economy as a whole. Our Bank has extensive experience and unique instruments to finance cutting-edge infrastructure projects on the principles of public-private partnership. Today, we are involved in the construction of the fourth phase of the Central Ring Road (Central Ring Road 4) around Moscow. We are also implementing high-speed highway projects in St. Petersburg. We plan to build up our activities in the area of transport infrastructure in all our member countries – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, and Tajikistan, using instruments that are unavailable to national development institutions. I mean the possible participation in the equity of a project vehicle, the provision of equity financing, and the provision of special-purpose tranches to pay interest and loan fees or create reserve accounts,” said Nikolai Podguzov, Chairman of the EDB Management Board.
The Financial Close Agreement on the project to construct the Big Almaty Ring Road (BAKAD) was signed by the syndicate of lenders with the EDB as a senior lender in early August 2020. The EDB extended US $135 million.
The BAKAD toll road will redistribute the projected traffic in and around Almaty, direct transit traffic to go beyond the urban area, improve transport services, reduce environmental impacts from the traffic, increase the speed of traffic, and improve road safety. The 66-km road will have four or six lanes at various sections. The project will also build bridges, interchanges, toll booths, and other necessary infrastructure. The estimated traffic speed is up to 150 km per hour.
The BAKAD project is being implemented under a concession agreement between the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan and a consortium comprising four companies: Alsim Alarko Sanayi Tesisleri ve Ticaret A.Ş., Makyol İnşaat Sanayi Turizm ve Ticaret A.Ş., SK Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd., and Korea Expressway Corporation. The agreement is a 20-year build-operate-transfer contract.
The EDB project team includes Amangeldy Issenov, Deputy Chairman of the EDB Management Board; Timur Abdullakhanov, Managing Director and Head of the Transport and Infrastructure Directorate; Margulan Abdirov, Executive Director of the Transport and Infrastructure Directorate; Azamat Tyuleubai, Director of the Transport and Infrastructure Directorate; and Binura Rismukhamedova, Manager at the Transport and Infrastructure Directorate. The team is currently monitoring project implementation.
Additional Information:
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial institution promoting integration and development in its member countries – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, and Tajikistan. The EDB's charter capital totals US $7 billion. The Bank was established in January 2006 by Russia and Kazakhstan and is headquartered in Almaty. Transport infrastructure, energy, chemical, mining, and mechanical engineering projects with a high integration effect account for the main part of the EDB’s portfolio.
Project Finance International magazine is part of the Thomson Reuters group and one of the leading international publications on project finance analysis. The magazine covers the main events in the international financial markets and identifies key trends and new opportunities for attracting credit resources in those markets. Project Finance International publishes biweekly reports on borrowings extended on the principles of project finance.
The EDB Media Centre:
Alexander Savelyev +7 (985) 765 23 59 (Moscow)
Azima Sapargaliyeva +7 (777) 750 00 08 (Almaty)
Sergey Gorbachev +7 (916) 727 22 00 (Moscow)