The municipality in Alma Ata and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed in November 2012 a Memorandum of Understanding for a project on the construction of 14 km of light rail infrastructure in the main economic centre of Kazakhstan.
The money to be invested in this project amount to approx. USD 300 Million and will be invested in the construction of a light rail network to replace the existing tram network. Part of the investment will go to the acquisition of rolling stock and necessary components.
The representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development believe that the future light rail transport system, also known as rapid tram, will be much cheaper and faster to build than an underground transport system. At the same time, the light rail will serve as the backbone of the entire transport system in Alma Ata, the former capital of Kazakhstan until 1997. The new project will complement and will improve the urban transport system in Alma Ata as an efficient public transport system is vital for a modern city.
Moreover, the mayor of Alma Ata, AkhmetjanEsimov, said that the implementation of this project was aimed to improve the urban transport system by extending electrified transport. The quality of daily journeys will also be improved and, most probably, the level of polluting emissions will be significantly reduced.
The construction of the light rail line is the first project of major importance for the urban transport in Kazakhstan implemented through public private partnership.
By 2012, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has financed 54 infrastructure projects in the EU member states at a cost of EUR 1.6 Billion. Among the East-European countries that EBRD invested in there is Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Poland.
Also, the EBRD has used the public private partnership to invest in public transport systems in countries such as Georgia, Ukraine, Turkey, Armenia, Tajikistan, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, FYR Macedonia and the Russian Federation.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the World Bank and the European Investment Bank have reaffirmed their support in the elaboration of sustainable mobility plans, at least for the big cities; they plead for the introduction of stimulation measures in the EU so that the European financing of urban transport projects would be conditioned by the exis-tence of such plans and by the conclusion of public private partnership mobility agre-ements.
In the programming period 2007-2013, the European Investment Bank has granted loans to support public private partnerships in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Regarding the EU member states, as part of the urban mobility strategy, the action plan of the European Commission suggests that the EU financing, including EIB mec-hanisms, can offer significant stimuli and can act as a leverage over private funds thus helping local authorities to create innovative public-private partnership systems.
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