10 Jun 2009 18:15

Kazakh senators Okay $520 Mln loans to build Western Europe

ASTANA. June 10 (Interfax) - The upper chamber of the Kazakh parliament approved a bill ratifying loan agreements with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and development (EBRD) worth $520 million.

The ADB will give a $340 million and the EBRD a $180 million loan to implement the Western Europe - Western China automobile corridor project.

According to earlier reports, EBRD First Vice President Varel Freeman, ADB Kazakhstan Resident Mission Country Director Stephen Wermert and Kazakh Finance Minister Bolat Zhamishev signed the agreements in Kazakhstan this March.

The Western Europe - Western China International Transit Corridor is 8,445 kilometers long, in particular 2,787 kilometers on the Kazakh territory. The project on the Kazakh territory is estimated at $5.4 billion.

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