Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is contributing to the development of sustainable transport connections in Central Asia by financing the upgrade and expansion of a key transportation route in Uzbekistan.

The EBRD’s sovereign loan of up to US$ 238 million (€224 million) will help rehabilitate around 81 km of the 4R156 road and build a bridge across the Amu Darya River in the Khorezm region of western Uzbekistan. This strategically important road is part of a transportation network that links the region’s administrative centre, Urgench, with the A380 road to Kazakhstan and forms the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Corridor 2.

Once complete, the current single-carriageway category-II road will be transformed into a dual-carriageway category-I road. The Bank’s funds will also help upgrade supporting infrastructure along the 4R156 road. The project will significantly improve the new road’s throughput capacity and thus stimulate trade and tourism in the Khorezm region.

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso said: “We are supporting this project because it meets our strategic objectives for Uzbekistan and Central Asia. It is also part of the global transport and logistics infrastructure solutions covered by the European Union’s (EU) Global Gateway initiative.”

In January 2024, at the Investors Forum for EU-Central Asia Transport Connectivity in Brussels, the EBRD expressed its readiness to invest around €1.5 billion in Trans-Caspian Corridor-related infrastructure and associated transport solutions over the next two to three years.

Uzbekistan is the leading recipient of EBRD funding in Central Asia for the fourth year in a row. To date, the Bank has invested around €4.42 billion in 151 projects across the country, with most of those funds supporting private entrepreneurship.