EBRD lends up to €229 million across three Kazakh loans in September

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced three loans in Kazakhstan in September with a combined ceiling of about €229 million, the bank's releases show.

One deal dominates the total: a tenge loan of up to KZT 102 billion, which the EBRD puts at €194 million equivalent, to Alatau Zharyk Company, the electricity distributor for Almaty and its region, announced on 7 September.

The other two are smaller corporate facilities: up to €25 million for the agricultural trader TradeAgra and affiliated companies in TBF Holding Group, announced on 3 September, and up to $11 million (€9.6 million), or its equivalent in tenge, for Abris Distribution-Kazakhstan, a regional distributor of information technology products, announced on 21 September.

The numbers

• Alatau Zharyk Company: up to KZT 102 billion (€194 million equivalent), long-term, in tenge. Share of the month's total: about 85 per cent. Source.
• TradeAgra and affiliates, TBF Holding Group: senior loan of up to €25 million for seasonal working capital, plus a €500,000 investment grant funded by Germany. Share: about 11 per cent. Source.
• Abris Distribution-Kazakhstan: up to $11 million (€9.6 million) or the tenge equivalent, for working capital and expansion. Share: about 4 per cent. Source.

Method: the total adds the euro figures the EBRD gives in each release, taking each loan at its stated ceiling (€194 million, €25 million and €9.6 million, or €228.6 million). Shares are calculated on that total and rounded. The releases do not state final drawn amounts, tenors or pricing.

The grid loan

Alatau Zharyk Company supplies power to about four million people and around 50,000 commercial consumers in Almaty city and the region, and is a fully owned subsidiary of Samruk Energy, which the EBRD describes as Kazakhstan's largest diversified energy holding company, the release says. The money will pay for automated metering and telemechanic equipment and for upgrades to low- and medium-voltage infrastructure.

The EBRD said the loan is the latest operation it has supported under the National Project for the Modernization of Energy and Utility Sectors, the government programme for heat, electricity, water and sewerage networks. It will also fund the reconstruction of the Zhetygen substation and an associated 110 kV line serving the planned Alatau city development, under a five-year enhanced partnership framework between Kazakhstan and the bank. The EBRD expects annual electricity savings of about 22 GWh and around 12,000 tonnes less CO2 a year, it said.

The loan is denominated in tenge, the currency in which the EBRD states its ceiling. The release does not say how the bank is funding the tenge, the tenor of the loan or its pricing.

The two corporate deals

The TBF facility will fund procurement, processing, storage, transport and exports of agricultural commodities, and the grant, under the EBRD's Agrifood Nexus programme and Germany's International Climate Initiative, is meant to encourage organic exports, the EBRD said. It describes TBF as one of Kazakhstan's leading privately owned agricultural commodity traders.

Abris, founded in 1995, operates in 10 countries and represents 60 global technology vendors including Cisco, HP, IBM and Lenovo, according to the bank. The loan will support working capital, expansion in its main markets and selected eastern European markets, investment in technology equipment and better vendor financing arrangements.

The releases also show the EBRD's Kazakhstan count moving. The 3 September release gives more than €11.7 billion across 358 projects, and the 7 September release almost $13.6 billion (€11.7 billion) across 358. The 21 September release gives 359 projects and almost $13.5 billion (€11.7 billion): the dollar figure is lower while the euro figure is unchanged. The EBRD calls Kazakhstan the largest and longest-running recipient of its investment in Central Asia.