The EBRD is arranging a €106 mln syndicated loan for the benefit of the Central Asian Electric Power Corporation (CAEPCO), one of the few private operators in the power sector of Kazakhstan. The EBRD will also provide grant funding of €400,000 to the Ministry of Environmental Protection for improvement of environmental standards, and over €160,000 to the company for energy efficiency-associated audits and research.

CAEPCO will use the loan to reduce heat and electricity losses – which will mean more efficiency and less pollution. The company will modernise energy generators and optimise electricity distribution networks in the cities of Pavlodar and Petropavlovsk in Kazakhstan.

Alexander Klebanov, the Chairman of the Board of Directors at CAEPCO, said:

Being a socially responsible business, CAEPCO JSC implements an investment programme aimed at improving reliability of power equipment and rendering quality services to consumers. Even before this deal, we invested tens of millions of US dollars into modernisation and renovation of outdated and worn-out equipment and to improvements of environmental standards.

CAEPCO accounts for almost 6% of electricity production in Kazakhstan, serving almost a million customers. The EBRD is a shareholder in the company with almost 25% of shares.

EBRD has invested $6.5 bln in Kazakstan since 1993. Last year the investments came to around $500 mln. EBRD mainly finances private projects in such sectors as energy, manufacturing, agriculture and finance. About 40% of EBRD’s investments go to infrastructure development projects.

In Kazakhstan, as elsewhere, one of the EBRD’s priorities is energy efficiency. In all its countries of operations, the Bank has invested over €11 bln in energy efficiency projects. At its Annual Meeting in Istanbul in May, the EBRD launched a new Sustainable Resource Initiative, which widens its existing Sustainable Energy Initiative.

According to World Bank, electric power transmission and distribution losses (% of output) are about 8% in Kazakhstan. Electric power transmission and distribution losses include losses in transmission between sources of supply and points of distribution and in the distribution to consumers, including pilferage.