OREANDA-NEWS. June 03, 2008. EBRD President Jean Lemierre is starting a visit to Kazakhstan on Wednesday for the last time in his position as head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development after servicing two full terms, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

In addition to meetings with government and business representatives he will sign a groundbreaking \\$400 million syndicated loan to the national grid operator KEGOC for the modernisation of the country’s electricity network.

The agreement will be the first project under a Sustainable Energy Action Plan launched by the Government of Kazakhstan and the EBRD to promote the conservation and rational use of energy resources as well as the efficient and sustainable supply of power and energy in the country.

In another step to reassure the investors’ community the EBRD Board of Governors has approved the establishment of the Kazakhstan Growth Fund which will provide private enterprises with much-needed equity or equity-related instruments at a time when the inflow of new capital is more relevant than ever in Kazakhstan. The EBRD’s move is expected to reassure investors and trigger follow-on investments from private investors.

Another important topic for Mr Lemierre’s discussions will be the globally rising food prices, a development which has also affected Kazakhstan strongly in recent months. In the second half of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008 significant increases of prices of all major agricultural products have been registered.

At the same time, a recent FAO/OECD study has found that Kazakhstan could improve its grain production by up to 107 per cent by 2016 by increasing yields by 59 per cent to Australian standards and land under cereal cultivation by 27 per cent. More than 4 million hectares could be returned back into production (26 per cent increase). Yields could be increased by 60 per cent with new technologies and the total production could therefore double, reaching almost 30 million tonnes.

The EBRD has invested more than ?300 m in agribusiness in Kazakhstan since 2001 and plans for ?60 million this year alone. The Bank is working closely with local producers and also engaged in a policy dialogue with the authorities to further improve the regulatory environment. Only last week, the EBRD signed a \\$40 million loan with Almaty Bottlers for the expansion of the local soft drinks-producer production and warehouse facilities.

During Mr Lemierre’s eight year-presidency, the EBRD and Kazakhstan greatly intensified and strengthened their cooperation. Today the Bank is the single largest investor outside the oil and gas sector in Kazakhstan with more than \\$5.5 billion invested in over 100 projects in all sectors of the economy.