ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 16. Kazakhstan's Samruk-Kazyna (Sovereign Wealth Fund) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have discussed cooperation on projects in the energy field, TurkicWorld reports.

According to Samruk-Kazyna, discussions took place between the head of the fund Nurlan Zhakupov and the Managing Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Group at the EBRD Nandita Parshad and the director of the EBRD in Kazakhstan Huseyin Ozhan.

The parties, in particular, reviewed cooperation within the framework of the project "Integration of the energy system of Western Kazakhstan with the Unified Electric Power System of the Republic of Kazakhstan."

Zhakupov noted that the fund and the fund's portfolio companies have been cooperating with the EBRD for a long time and have declared their readiness for further cooperation.

Meanwhile, the EBRD's current project portfolio in Kazakhstan reaches 2.77 billion euros as of January 31, 2024, based on the implementation of 117 active portfolio projects.

Investments in sustainable infrastructure projects have increased to 71 percent of the whole portfolio. At the same time, the amount of investment climbed from 1.91 billion to 1.95 billion euros. The EBRD's portfolio continues to comprise 24 percent industrial, trade, and agricultural projects. However, volume climbed from 643 to 654 million euros. The financial sector portfolio remained stable in terms of share. Investments in financial institutions account for 6 percent of the portfolio (from 149 million to 164 million euros).

Meanwhile, the bank has spent almost ten billion euros in 317 projects in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the EBRD's largest and most established Central Asian banking company.