DUSHANBE, March 2, Asia-Plus  - The Possibility of Tajikistan participation in work of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) was one of major topics of a March 2 meeting of President Emomali Rahmonov with visiting EDB board chairman Igor Finogenov.

After the meeting with President Rahmonov, Finogenov told journalists that an agreement to create the bank signed between Russia and Kazakhstan on January 12 2006 took force on June 15, 2006.  “Under the agreement, the bank will have authorized capital of $1.5 billion,  $1 billion of which is chare of Russia and the remainder is of Kazakhstan,” said Finogenov, “However, the sides have invested totaling $620 million so far.” 

“Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, and Armenia have already stated their readiness to participate in work of the bank,” said the EDB manager, “Tajik President today noted that Tajikistan is also ready to participate in the bank’s work.”  

On the bank activity, Finogenov noted that it is an international financial organization dedicated to promote economic development of participating states.  

“During the meeting, we discussed possible directions of the bank’s activity in Tajikistan and cooperation with Tajikistan’s financial sector,” Finogenov said, noting that they had reached an agreement on holding meetings with relevant bodies to give concretive expression of that issue. 

The EDB manager outlined sectors like hydropower, mining, transportation infrastructure and food processing, as areas in which the bank could invest.  In Tajikistan, the bank still could fund projects costing up to $20 million each, according to him. 

Asked about approximate term of Tajikistan’s joining the EDB, Finogenov said, “The decision depends on Tajikistan, but I hope that we could consider the first of our joint projects already by the end of this year.”  

The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is based in former Kazakh capital Almaty - still the country''s business center - and have a branch in St. Petersburg, Russia''s second city, and offices in the two countries'' capitals, Moscow and Astana.  It was established to help boost investment across the former Soviet Union.