OREANDA-NEWS  On 04 March was announced, that the EBRD provides a USD 5 mln loan to Andijan Cable, one of the leading cable manufacturers in Uzbekistan and Central Asia.

The financing will allow the company to purchase new lines for production of cables, including power cables, commodity copper wire and LAN cables. The financing will help Andijan Cable strengthen and expand its market position in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Today 75 percent of the company’s sales are made abroad, with Russia by far the largest recipient.

Cable production in Uzbekistan’s Andijan region started in the 1980s. Under the Soviet Union a large factory was built which employed some 5,000 workers. After Uzbekistan’s independence Andijan Cable was privatised and it is now majority-owned by the Russian company OAO Farial.

After a comprehensive restructuring and modernisation programme Andijan Cable today produces a large variety of industrial cables for telecommunications, construction and energy, the automotive industry and grid from steel wire. In recent years telecommunications has become increasingly important and today the company is the sole producer of LAN cables in Uzbekistan. The high quality standards of Andijan Cable have earned the company an ISO 9000 certification from Germany’s TЬV.

Fernand Pillonel, head of the EBRD office in Uzbekistan, said the Bank’s loan underlined the EBRD’s commitment to support the private sector in Uzbekistan. “The successful development of Andijan Cable demonstrates the impressive potential of Uzbekistan. We are especially pleased that our loan will support a company which is based outside the capital Tashkent and the other traditional focal points of investment and expect this to have a strong impact on the regional development in the east of Uzbekistan, where the company is based.”

Since its start of operations in 1991, the EBRD has invested about Ђ550 mln into more than 50 projects in Uzbekistan. In 2008 alone the Bank has signed local 5 projects and 2 regional frameworks also benefiting Uzbekistan worth more than Ђ33 mln. The Bank will adopt a new strategy for Uzbekistan in 2009.