Wednesday, February 3 2021 14:35

ArmInfo. All the declared four fundamental freedoms within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union - the movement of goods, services, labor and capital -  are being implemented, including with the participation of the  Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), which has already existed for 15  years in this space for 15 years.

According to the press service of the Russian executive body, this  was stated by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at a meeting  with Chairman of the Board of the EDB Nikolai Podguzov, adding that  it is being held on the eve of the first intergovernmental council of  the Eurasian Economic Union, which will be held in Almaty.

"The Union works quite actively. It is very important that you are  involved in a large number of projects, infrastructure, logistics,  energy, and work, as your mission says, in order to ensure that the  economy of each of the countries that make up the Union develops more  actively, as and the Union itself, "Mishustin said, inquiring about  the results of the work, the bank's projects, including the EAYU  Digital Initiatives Fund, which also deals with a large number of  projects related to the digital economy in the entire Union.  In  turn, Podguzov stated that 2020 was a rather difficult year, but all  the main indicators of the bank were met. "The volume of investments  of the bank in the territory of the participating countries amounted  to 1.4 billion US dollars, which is almost 20% higher than the  planned values. Thus, the current investment portfolio of the bank is  4.4 billion US dollars. At the same time, we managed to keep the  provisions of the balance sheet portfolio by the level of 3% The bank  is financially stable.  In terms of country characteristics, the main  investments were made in Kazakhstan - 38% of the portfolio, in the  Russian Federation - 37.5% and in Belarus - 22%. In the sectoral  context, these are projects in the field of transport infrastructure  - 23%, energy infrastructure - 18%, and the financial sector - about  17%. In 2020, among the landmark projects in which the bank  participated: financing the creation of an international airport in  Kazakhstan, in the city of Turkestan; support for the export project  of the company "BelAZ"; financing the construction of the third and  fourth sections of the central ring road, "the head of the EDB said.   At the same time, he said that serious work was carried out in terms  of measures to smooth out the negative consequences of the spread of  the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, the bank extended  preferential lending terms for a number of existing borrowers of the  bank, ensured the continuity of investment processes in a number of  landmark projects of the participating countries, and also supported  a number of entrepreneurship entities in medium and small businesses  in the most affected industries.  "In addition, through the Eurasian  Fund for Stabilization and Development, where the bank is the  manager, several programs of budgetary and grant support have been  developed and approved for countries such as Belarus, Armenia,  Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan in the total amount of over 650 million US  dollars.  The Digital Initiatives Foundation is actively working. We  have taken an inventory of the digital agenda for the implementation  of current and promising digital projects in the territory of the  member countries of our bank, determined a register of the most  important projects, where the bank will take an active part. These  are turnkey digital public administration projects, where, among  other things, it is supposed to digitize the most significant public  services of the countries participating in the bank. This is a  digital distance medicine project. It is a digital platform for  international taxation and law. This is an international factoring  project that will provide settlements between countries for the  supply of goods and services with a deferred payment. I am confident  that we will achieve significant progress on all these projects this  year, "Podguzov said.  At the same time, he said that at the end of  2020, the bank's flagship event, the first Eurasian congress, was  held. The head of the EDB noted that this congress has become a  unique platform for discussing digital investment initiatives of the  EAEU member countries.  "One of the achievements and the result of  the work of the congress was the creation of a coalition of national  development banks of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, as well as the  Eurasian Development Bank to pool investment resources for the  integration and economic development of the EAEU countries.  In the  promising period, we are focused on developing a new five-year  strategy for the bank. Country strategies will also be developed for  each of the participating countries. We assume that the main focus of  our work is to strengthen the role of the Eurasian Bank as the main  mechanism of integration processes in the EAEU space and increase the  export potential of the member countries of the bank. As part of the  implementation of this model, we plan to focus on the creation and  organization of so-called end-to-end integration projects. I believe  that such a model will make it possible to switch to the mode of  global cooperation of the Eurasian Bank with national and  international credit institutions. I hope that based on the results  of the strategy implementation, we will double the size of the bank's  project portfolio and bring it to the level of USD 10 billion.  A  cross-cutting integration project is a project that is being  implemented on the territory and in the interests of several states  of the member countries of the bank. It presents the main areas in  which we plan to focus on the creation of digital platforms, projects  in the field of transport and logistics, energy and water balance,  food and agriculture, industrial cooperation, as well as a single  settlement space.  I am sure that the implementation of these  projects will allow us to achieve serious multiplier effects for the  national economies of the member countries of the bank and increase  the welfare of the citizens of these states. We very much hope for  the support of shareholders in the implementation of this strategy,  "Podguzov summed up.