The Eurasian Development Bank approves strategy for 2008 - 2010

The following individuals took part in the EDB’s board meeting: on behalf of Russia - Mr. Viktor Khristenko (Chairman of the Eurasian Bank of Development's board of directors and Russian Minister of Industry and Energy); and, on behalf of Kazakhstan - Mr. Galym Orazbakov (Deputy Chairman of the EDB’s board of directors, Kazakh Minister of Industry and Trade). Other board members include Kairat Kelimbetov, and Igor Finogenov, the Chairman of the EDB’s management board.

In line with the Bank’s strategy for 2007 - 2010, the EDB aims to achieve the following investment portfolio levels: USD 661 million by the end of 2007; USD 1.89 million by the end of 2008; USD 3.5 million by the end of 2009, and USD 4.55 million by the end of 2010.

Priority industries for investment are:

• electricity (generation and distribution);
• the hydroelectricity sector;
• transport infrastructure;
• high technology and innovations.

The Bank’s key lines of business are dedicated to electricity and projects related to water resources in Central Asian republics. The EDB’s board of directors reviewed the management board’s report on planned operations.

The following goals were set towards reinforcing the macroeconomic role of the Eurasian Development Bank for the countries in the region,

• establishing an investment portfolio over 2008 - 2010 amounting to at least USD 4.5 million;
• ensure growth in mutual trade among the Bank’s member countries by USD 1.6 million per year via project implementation;
• ensure growth in mutual investment among the Bank’s member countries by USD 800 million during 2008 - 2010 via implementation of investment projects;
• expand the circle of Bank participants.

In addition to lending, the board of directors noted that the Bank is considering opportunities to investing in the equity capital of the most promising companies in the region. The EDB plans to invest tens of millions of dollars towards this end.

"The Eurasian Development Bank should become the largest financial organization in the CIS dealing in mutual investment projects among its member countries," noted Victor Khristenko, EDB Board Chairman and Russian Minister of Industry and Energy, during discussions of the Bank's strategy. “The Bank will have very close ties with the executive bodies of EurAsEC and the CIS. We also expect the Bank will be granted observer status at the UN General Assembly."

“Over one short year, we have achieved real results," added Igor Finogenov, the Chairman of the EDB's management board. “The Bank’s investment portfolio currently amounts to US 221.5, and we are already able to compete in the CIS’s priority industries with major global development banks: the World Bank, the EBRD, and the Islamic Bank. Our experts have local know-how, and the Bank has support from the government structures of its member states. The EDB’s investment potential is growing every year. I am confident that we will become the second largest development bank in Russia in terms of project volume, and the third largest in Kazakhstan.”