DUSHANBE, February 11, 2009, Asia-Plus — The European Investment Bank (EIB) begins to fund energy projects in Tajikistan. On Tuesday February 11, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and the EIB President, Mr. Philippe Maystadt, signed a frame cooperation agreement in Brussels that lays foundation for the Bank’s activity in this country, Russia’s news agency Itar Tass reported yesterday.
“The frame agreement opens way for the European Investment Bank to finance projects in Tajikistan. A special emphasis will be laid on financing of global energy project being of mutual interest in the territories of both Tajikistan and the European Union,” Mr. Philippe Maystadt said, according to Itar Tass.
He stressed that the Bank was deeply interested in working in Tajikistan in cooperation with the European Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Itar Tass quoted Dusan Ondrejicka, Information Officer, EIB, as saying that the Bank got the right to work in territories of the Central Asian countries only in November 2008 following endorsement of the Eastern Partnership program by the European Union Council.
The European Investment Bank was created by the Treaty of Rome in 1958 as the long-term lending bank of the European Union. The task of the Bank is to contribute towards the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States. The EIB raises substantial volumes of funds on the capital markets which it lends on favorable terms to projects furthering EU policy objectives. The EIB continuously adapts its activity to developments in EU policies. The Bank enjoys its own legal personality and financial autonomy within the EU and operates in keeping with strict banking practice and in close collaboration with the wider banking community, both when borrowing on the capital markets and when financing capital projects.
