DUSHANBE, October 7, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Tajikistan has appointed its two representatives to the Board of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB).

According to the EDB press service, Finance Minister Safarali Najmiddinov was appointed as Tajikistan’s plenipotentiary representative to the Bank’s Board and the First deputy chairman of the State Committee for Investment and State-owned Property Management (GosKomInvest), Abdugaffor Rahmonov, was appointed as his deputy.

We will recall that Tajikistan completed all necessary procedures in June 2009 and became full member of the Eurasian Development Bank.

At present, representatives of the EDB’s Board are Russia (Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko and Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin), Kazakhstan (Finance Minister Bolat Zhumashiyev and Minister of Industry and Trade Aset Isekshev), Armenia (Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisiyan and Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Josef Isayan) and Tajikistan. 

The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is based in former Kazakh capital Almaty - still the country''s business center - and has 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.

Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement to create the bank on January 12, 2006 in the Kazakh capital, Astana.  Under the agreement, the bank has authorized capital of $1.5 billion, 33% of which will belong to Kazakhstan and the remainder to Russia.

In April 2009 Armenia and in June 2009 Tajikistan became the full members of the EDB after having paid in their shares in the authorized capital of the Bank.

In December 2008 the Board of the Bank approved the entrance of Belarus to the Bank.

The Bank’s authorized capital now exceeds US$1.5 billion.