The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will channel $210 million to Uzbekistan’s Asakabank, Ipoteka Bank, National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of Uzbekistan (NBU) and UzPromstroybank (UzPSB) financial institutions.
Press release issued by the EBRD on March 24 , in particular, says new permanent TFP limits for the four local banks worth US$210 million under the Bank’s Trade Facilitation Program (TFP) will help Uzbek exporters and importers to better manage the disruptions in trade and supply chains caused by the war on Ukraine and its impact on the Russian and Central Asian economies.
New permanent Trade finance limits of US$ 60 million to Asakabank, US$30 million to Ipoteka Bank, US$40 million to NBU and US$80 million to UzPSB are expected to allow Uzbek businesses to better manage commodity stocks and plan for longer trade cycles.
Following the addition of new permanent Trade Finance limits, the total Trade Finance limits for the four local banks have reached US$80 million for Asakabank, US$55 million for Ipoteka Bank, US$70 million for NBU and US$100 million for UzPromstroybank.
The four financial institutions representing the group of largest Uzbek banks jointly operate over 170 branches across the country and provide services to thousands of private domestic businesses. They are in a good position to stimulate foreign economic activity of local firms and support critical imports and exports.
The EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Program currently works with seven local banks in Uzbekistan enabling their private corporate clients, including SMEs, trade internationally. Since the re-establishment of operations in Uzbekistan in 2017, TFP has facilitated almost 1,000 trade transactions worth over €700 million. In 2021 alone TFP supported 356 transactions for the amount of €210 million making Uzbekistan the most active participant of the Program among 29 countries, where TFP operates.
To date, the EBRD has invested more than €2.85 billion through 106 projects in Uzbekistan.
