Askarov: Targeted financing of regional development requires special criteria

Bishkek, Aug.21, 2019. /Kabar/. The specific conditions of each region should be taken into account when preparing projects to finance regional development, Kyrgyzstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Zamirbek Askarov said at the regular meeting of the tender committee for the selection of investment business projects, infrastructure projects and development programs.
"The criteria for selecting projects should be access to finance in hard-to-reach areas of the regions, the use of local raw materials and labor resources, as well as focus on exports and innovation," said Askarov, the press service of the Government reported.
To date, none of the projects, adopted from the regions, have been approved by financial institutions due to non-compliance with the approved criteria.
The deputy prime minister suggested that credit institutions should be distributed among the supervised oblasts to ensure the quality of project preparation for financing by providing advice to applicants, municipal employees, as well as by training and organizing regular webinars.
Thus, on behalf of the deputy prime minister, the Guarantee Fund OJSC, the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund, RSK Bank OJSC and Aiyl Bank OJSC will send their specialists to the regions to provide consulting assistance in project development.
"The main role in projects’ selection belongs to governors," Zamirbek Askarov stressed.
He said it is the first time in Kyrgyzstan’s history that money is allocated from the state budget for the development of the regions.
KGS 2 billion, allocated from the budget, will be provided to enterprises through Regional Development Project Financing Center OJSC.
As a result of the meeting, the tender committee selected four projects worth over KGS 200 million. Taking into account the proposals of governors, Deputy PM Zamirbek Askarov instructed to finalize the remaining projects within three weeks with the assistance of specialists of financial and credit institutions.