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By Trend

There are four "Proposed Projects" of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Uzbekistan, bank’s representative told Trend in an interview.

"The first is Bukhara Road Network Improvement Project, "the representative stated.

The official added Uzbekistan intends to apply for financing in the amount of about $206,5 million equivalent from the AIIB to cover the cost of the Phase I of the project, and it intends to apply part of the proceeds to payments for goods, works, non-consulting services and consulting services to be procured under this project.

The project will include the following components: rehabilitation, modernization, and widening of about 78 km of International Road A380; construction supervision; preparation of design and biding documents for approximately additional 200 km of priority roads, includes; institutional strengthening and capacity building; equipment purchase.

"The project cost is estimated to be $203 million, AIIB loan will be $165 million (81 percent). Estimated date of loan closing is Sept. 2025," the official added.

The official noted that the second is prosperous villages project in Uzbekistan

"This is a multi-sectoral rural infrastructure project. The project will have the following two components; demand-driven investments in basic infrastructure and services and project management, monitoring and evaluation, and institutional support," the representative stated.

Total estimated project investment is $183.6 million (joint co-financing with the World Bank) where AIIB loan will be $82 million, World Bank’s International Development Loan will be $100 million and Government of Uzbekistan’s part will be $1.6 million. The project is expected to be completed in June. 2024

AIIB’s third proposed project in Uzbekistan is Bukhara Region Water Supply and Sewerage. It has three components: investment in water supply infrastructure; investment in sewerage infrastructure; capacity building and implementation support.

The official stressed that the Phase I project cost $422 million; the AIIB loan is $357 million (85 percent) and $65 million (15 percent) will be covered by Uzbekistan.

"Phase II project cost is $236 million. AIIB will loan $200 million (85 percent), while Uzbekistan will cover the remaining $36 million (15 percent)," AIIB’S representative added. The estimated date of loan closing is Apr. 2024.

The last proposed project is Railway Electrification Project (Bukhara-Urgench-Khiva)

According to the bank’s representative, it aims to improve connectivity of the railway network connecting the cities of Bukhara, Urgench and Khiva in western Uzbekistan, reduce travel time and increase the freight handling capabilities of the rail connections amongst these cities.

"The project will be implemented by Uzbekistan Railways JSC under the Ministry of Finance. The project is expected to be completed in Dec. 2022," the official said.

The representative stressed that the total cost of the project is $339.1 million. AIIB’s loan amount to $168.2 million, while $170.9 million will be covered by Uzbekistan Railways.

Finally the AIIB’s official added that all of the above are yet to be approved.

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