WASHINGTON, September 30, 2010 – The World Bank’s Board of Directors today approved Additional Financing in the total amount of US$ 10 million to support the on-going National Road Rehabilitation (Osh-Batken-Isfana) Project in the Kyrgyz Republic.
“The proposed additional financing would be a very visible demonstration of the assistance that the international community could deploy in a rapid response to the recent events,” noted Chorobek Imashev, Minister of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic. “The activities proposed under the Project will allow the Government to quickly implement road maintenance and repairs that will generate paid employment in a region where job markets are impacted by the recent events”.
The additional financing will be used for road repair within Osh city and rehabilitation of roads within and around the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad, thereby creating employment in a region where substantial economic dislocation has recently occurred. It will expand the scope of the National Road Rehabilitation Project which aims at rehabilitating a section of the Osh-Batken-Isfana road corridor and improving road safety planning at the national level. In Osh city the Additional Financing will finance road repairs such as fixing potholes, sealing cracks, mending edges and sidewalks, and unblocking drainage pipes. The on-going Project in the amount of US$ 25 million equivalent became effective on February 26, 2010 and is being successfully implemented.
“The repair and rehabilitation of road infrastructure in and around Osh and Jalal-Abad cities will provide a stimulus to the local economies through the creation of about 5,000 person-months of employment,” said Alexander Kremer, Country Manager in the Kyrgyz Republic. “Like the original Project, the additional financing will also generate substantial indirect benefits to the population of the provinces of Osh and Jalal-Abad”.
The National Road Rehabilitation (Osh-Batken-Isfana) Project will be implemented during the period of three years by the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The World Bank’s overall mission in the Kyrgyz Republic is to promote economic growth, reduce poverty, and encourage a better quality of life. The Kyrgyz Republic borrows from the World Bank on highly concessional terms – no interest, and only a 0.75 percent service charge. Credits are repayable in 40 years, including a 10-year grace period, while grants require no repayment. The financial assistance to the Kyrgyz Republic since 1992 amounts to over US$ 894 million, in the form of grants and highly concessional credits.
