Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 30 May, a ceremony was held to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between Uzpromstroybank and the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The event was attended by the Bank’s management, heads of relevant structural units and officials of the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The Decree of the President of the country from 4 October 2019 on the approval of the Strategy for the transition of the Republic of Uzbekistan to a "green" economy in the period 2019-2030 defines tasks to improve the efficiency of the economy and rational use of natural resources through technological modernization of production and development of financial mechanisms.

In recent years, large-scale work has been carried out in the system of Uzpromstroybank in the implementation of this strategy. In particular, since 2012, energy efficiency projects have been financed at the expense of the World Bank Group - the International Development Association, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. To date, 235 projects have received green loans in the amount of US$291.6 million. As a result, 763 thousand MW/h of electricity, 17 thousand cubic meters of water, 107 thousand cubic meters of natural gas were saved, and 326.4 thousand tons of hazardous waste was prevented from being released into the environment.

The Memorandum of Understanding, signed between Uzpromstroybank and the Ministry of Natural Resources, basically stipulates the goal of developing bilateral cooperation in matters of ecology and environmental protection.

As part of the memorandum, the parties will work on a number of priority areas. In particular, in order to raise awareness of the population about ecology and environmental issues, it is planned to hold online joint seminars, roundtable discussions, scientific and practical conferences and various actions, organize the exchange of data, opinions of experts, researchers, and specialists in this direction. The memorandum also noted the implementation of joint programs and projects in other areas.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSCB "Uzpromstroybank" Farrukh Abdurakhmanov stressed that at present, when the population is steadily increasing, the industrial industry is rapidly developing, rational use of electricity and natural resources is a requirement of the time.

“Today, the Bank is resolutely focused on the implementation of reforms to organize the rational use of resources,” F. Abdurakhmanov said. – For this purpose, “green” banking has been established in the Bank’s system.

At the same time, the Bank pays special attention to the environmental and social aspects of projects, and actively supports the allocation of loans for energy-efficient and resource-saving equipment.

“We have involved experts from the International Finance Corporation, as well as environmentalists and technical specialists in the implementation of the green banking principle,” said N. Khusanov, Director of the Green Banking Department. – Currently, with their assistance, the assessment of environmental and social risks of projects is being carried out effectively. To this end, internal regulations have been developed, “green” loan products have been introduced for corporate clients, representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as clients in the status of individuals. Credit lines in the amount of 323.3 million dollars were attracted from international financial institutions and foreign banks. Of these funds, 143.2 million dollars were disbursed.

In addition, a line in the amount of 76 billion soums was attracted at the expense of the off-budget intersectoral energy saving fund under the Ministry of Energy to provide loans to the population. Of these, 385 households were allocated loans for 10.8 billion soums for solar panels with a capacity of 960 kWh.

The event also noted that in order to fully implement the principles of a "green" bank in the Bank’s system, foreign experience is being studied even more deeply.