The Eurasian Development Bank may come under the control of Kazakhstan

Russia plans to give up its main stake in the Eurasian Development Bank, which was established by six CIS countries. The main goal is to protect the bank from sanctions, Bloomberg reported.

Kazakhstan, which is part of a customs union with Russia, could become the bank's controlling shareholder if the deal goes through. Currently, Kazakhstan has a 32.99 percent stake in the Eurasian Development Bank, Belarus holds close to 1 percent, and Tajikistan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan hold the rest.

We remind you that the Eurasian Development Bank was established on the basis of the interstate agreement of January 12, 2006. EDB members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The Bank was established in order to support the economic growth of member states, expand trade and economic relations between them, and develop integration processes in the Eurasian space through investment projects.

The authorized capital is 7 billion dollars. As of June 30, 2022, EDB’s current investment portfolio is $4.17 billion and includes 76 projects in all member states of the bank. 48.8% of the investment portfolio of EDB is accounted for by Russia, 36.9% by Kazakhstan, and 7.7% by Belarus.

The main share in the portfolio of EDB corresponds to projects with an integration effect in the fields of transport infrastructure, digital systems, green energy, agriculture, industry and mechanical engineering.