Kazakhstan may become the biggest shareholder of EDB

Kazakhstan may increase its current share (32.99%) in the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) and become a controlling shareholder of the development institute, according to Bloomberg.

As the outlet reported, Russia is going to sell its controlling papers in order to lower the risk of the bank being subject to international sanctions. The Kremlin now wants to downgrade its share from 65.97% to less than 50%.

After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia is struggling against international sanctions and various limitations on the flow of money, imports and technologies into the country. Now the Russian authorities are going to make the Russian financial system more resilient in the face of new sanctions.

The Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial organization established on January 12, 2006, with the only goal: to facilitate the economic growth of its member states (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan). The EDB is also aimed at expanding trade and economic connections between member states as well as integration processes through investing.

The bank’s charter capital totals $7 billion, including $1.5 billion of paid-in capital and $5.5 billion of callable capital. The entity’s headquarter is located in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

As of June 30, the EDB provided financial support to 89 projects in Kazakhstan ($4.047 billion), 83 projects in Russia ($5.344 billion), 20 projects in Armenia ($419 million), 40 projects in Belarus ($2.2 billion), nine projects in Kyrgyzstan ($113 million) and six projects in Tajikistan ($51 million).

The EDB executive board consists of nine members. Three of the bank’s deputy heads are Kazakhstanis (Ruslan Delnov, Daniyar Imangaliyev and Berik Mukhambetzhanov).