EBRD and EU to provide €35mn financing package for power grid upgrades in Tajikistan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the EU are to provide a financing package of €35mn to Shabakahoi Taksimoti Bark (STB), a state-owned power utility responsible for electricity distribution in Tajikistan.

The funding is meant to help boost the sustainability and efficiency of Tajikistan’s energy sector by financing power distribution grid upgrades in the country’s Khatlon Region. The funds will be used for modernising the power distribution networks in the cities of Kulob and Bokhtar along with in adjacent territories. The financing will also help introduce billing and metering infrastructure and upgrade STB workshops. STB in cooperation with domestic educational establishments also aims to develop professional training schemes for young people.

The financing will consist of a €20mn sovereign loan provided by the EBRD and a €15mn investment grant provided by the EU under its Investment Facility for Central Asia (IFCA).

The investment is the latest project under the EBRD’s Tajikistan Energy Efficiency Framework designed to promote power-sector reforms and finance key energy infrastructure that has been subject to decades of underinvestment.

To date, the EBRD has invested €765mn via 140 projects in Tajikistan’s economy.