Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial organization founded by the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2006.
Contents |
The Bank's mission is to facilitate the development of market economies, economic growth and the expansion of trade and other economic ties in its member states by carrying out investment activities.
The Bank strives to become a consolidating element within the financial infrastructure and a catalyst for the expansion of integration processes among member states.
The strategic objectives of the EDB are:
The EDB member states are Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Tajikistan and Belarus. Other states and international organisations may become members by joining the Agreement Establishing the EDB. The EDB charter capital in exceeds US$1.5 billion, it is formed of contributions by its member states: Russia (US$1 billion), Kazakhstan (US$500 million), Armenia (US$100,000), Tajikistan (US500,000) and Belarus (US15 million). The charter capital may be increased by resolution of the Bank’s Council.
The Bank has the status of an international organization, and is subject to international law. As such, the Bank:
The Bank’s headquarters is located in Almaty. The Bank has a branch in St. Petersburg and representative offices in Moscow, Astana, Dushanbe, Yerevan and Minsk. The Bank has observer status in the UN General Assembly (since 2007) and EurAsEC (since 2008).
The Eurasian Development Bank was founded on the initiative of Presidents of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan. An inter-state agreement to that effect was signed on 12 January 2006 during the official visit of President of Russia Vladimir Putin to Kazakhstan. The Bank formally commenced its activity in June 2006 following the enactment of laws on ratification of that agreement by the Presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan and the first meeting of its Council.
Armenia and Tajikistan joined the Bank in 2009 and Belarus in June 2010.
The Bank’s priority investment sectors and projects are:
Projects financed by the Bank provide for the infrastructural development and diversification of economies and boost mutual trade and investments in the member states.
As a rule, the payback period of the Bank’s projects does not exceed 15 years and the Bank’s commitment is at least $30 million.
As of 31 December 2010, the investment portfolio of the Bank amounted to US$2,209 billion. The Bank was actively considering 37 investment projects at the time. The total volume of projects in the pipeline is in the range of USD13.575 billion, of which EDB’s estimated share is USD2.967 billion.
Example current projects, below, and others by the Bank are being implemented in various sectors in member states:
In 2010 the Bank launched three programs supporting finance sectors of its member states- the program on support and development of SMEs, the program on support of microfinance, and the program on development of trade finance instruments and promotion of mutual trade between its member states by providing target loan facilities to financial institutions.
Investment projects already implemented by the Bank:
In June 2009 member states of the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund (ACF) appointed EDB manager of the ACF and signed a respective agreement with the Bank. The EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund of USD8.513 billion was established by governments of six countries- Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia and Tajikistan.
ACF’s main goals are to assist member countries in overcoming the consequences of global financial crisis, to ensure their long-run economic and financial stability and to foster economic integration in the region (for more information, please visit http://acf.eabr.org/eng)
The Bank has credit ratings assigned by Standard & Poor's (ВВВ), Fitch Ratings (ВВВ) and Moody's Investors Service (А3).
The Bank provides financial support for pre-investment and innovation studies aimed at promoting Eurasian integration, strengthening market infrastructure and sustainable economic growth in its member states. For these purposes, the Bank established a Technical Assistance Fund.
The Bank conducts research the focus of which is Eurasian integration. On a regular basis EDB, holds conferences featuring integration issues. The Bank also publishes a quarterly Journal of Eurasian Integration, an annual almanac the Eurasian Integration Yearbook, industry and country reviews, news digests on regional integration and the activity of international development banks. The Bank also provides information and consulting services, including analysis of selected sectors and financial markets in its member states and other EurAsEC countries, and economic and legal analysis of integration agreements and structures and the activities of development banks in the CIS.
The managing bodies of the Bank are the Council, the Executive Board and the Chairman of the Executive Board.
The members of the Bank’s Council are: from Russia: Alexei Kudrin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation- Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation, Andrey Dementyev, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation;
from Kazakhstan: Bolat Zhamishev, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan , Albert Rau, First Vice Minister of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Kazakhstan
from Armenia: Armen Movsisyan, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Armenia , Iosif Isayan, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Armenia;
from Tajikistan: Safarali Nadjimiddinov, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Tajikistan, Amondjon Eshonkulov, First Deputy of the Chairman of the State Committee on Investments and Management of State Property of the Republic of Tajikistan.
from Belarus: Sergey Rumas, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Nickolai Snopkov, Minister of Economics of the Republic of Belarus
The Chairman of the EDB's Executive Board is Igor Finogenov.