DUSHANBE, March 19, 2014, Asia-Plus — The Government of Tajikistan has sent a grant agreement between the State Unitary Enterprise (SUE) Khojagii Manziliyu-Kommunali (KMK – the central governmental agency responsible for water supply and wastewater services) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for ratification to the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament).
“The agreement was signed in April last year and it aims to improve the municipal water services in the city of Tursunzoda, Hisor and Shahrinav districts and Somoniyon Township (administrative center of the Roudaki district),” Ashourbek Rasoulov, the member of the Majlisi Namoyandagon Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
Under this agreement the Bank provides an US$ 11 million grant for improvement of water services in the mentioned cities.
“Earlier, the EBRD provided a US$ 7 million preferential loan to KMK for implementation of the Central Tajik Water Rehabilitation Project,” Rasoulov noted.
The project aims at improving the municipal water services in Hisor, Shahrinav, Somoniyon, and Tursunzoda. The overall objectives of this Project are to: 1) rehabilitate the water supply system and, where applicable, allow selected wastewater improvements; 2) improve both billing and collection; and 3) improve financial and operational management.
The EBRD operations in Tajikistan started in 1992 with technical cooperation, with the first investments in 1996. During this time, the EBRD has concentrated on private sector development, which accounts for over 70 per cent of the Bank’s investment there. EBRD’s current country strategy for Tajikistan defines the Bank’s activities in the country from 2012 to 2015.
