China Eximbank provides $185 million preferential buyer’s credit for Aral-Kazarman Section (195 km-291 km) of the Alternative North-South Road Project (Linked to Project ID#40491 and #46350)

On June 15, 2015, China Eximbank and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic's Ministry of Finance signed a $185,254,119 preferential buyer credit (PBC) loan agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK PBC NO. (2015) 4 TOTAL NO. (346)] for the Aral-Kazarman Section (195 km-291 km) of the Alternative North-South Road Project. The PBC (loan) carried the following borrowing terms: a 20 year maturity, an 11 year grace period, a 2% interest rate, a 0% default (penalty) interest rate, a 0.18% management fee, and a 0.18% commitment fee. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to partially finance a May 4, 2014 commercial contract [EXMB/KG/NS-05] worth $298,796,966.13 between the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Kyrgyz Republic and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). According to internal data that the Kyrgyz Ministry of Finance shared with AidData in July 2022, this loan achieved a disbursement rate of 83.8% ($155,374,422.40 out of $185,254,119) as of December 31, 2021 and its amount outstanding was $155,374,422.40 as of December 31, 2021. The purpose of the project was to construct a section of the Alternative North-South Road that runs from Aral to Kazarman (195 km to 291 km). The aim of this international North-South transport corridor is to reduce trade costs and connect Russia, Central Asia, Iran, and India. CRBC was the EPC contractor responsible for project implementation. Construction began on August 10, 2015. However, as of December 2020, the project had still only achieved a 70% completion rate. The project was ultimately completed on November 10, 2021. It was originally scheduled for completion on April 10, 2020. This project has also been plagued by controversy. According to a 2018 investigation, former Minister of Transport and Communications Kalykbek Sultanov and the Minister of Transport and Communications at the time (Zhamshitbek Kalilov) may have colluded with the contractor responsible for project implementation (CRBC) to embezzle funds that were allocated for the Alternative North-South Road by China Eximbank. The investigation found the project input costs were inflated by several orders of magnitude — from paying $1.1 per kilogram of cement (while the cost on the local market was $0.07) to paying $2,000 a month to provide office space to an engineer on the construction site.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as Phase 2 of the Alternative North-South Road Project (or “Строительство альтернативной автомобильной дороги Север-Юг, фаза 2”). 2. The Alternative North-South Road Project (Russian: строительства альтернативной дороги Север—Юг; Chinese: “北-南公路”) is being implemented in three parts and financed with 3 different China Eximbank loans: Phase 1 of the project [Kazarman-Jalal Abad Section (km291-km433) and Balykchy-Aral Section (km183+500-195+486)] is being financed with a $399,989,041 PBC from China Eximbank (Project ID# 40491). Phase 2 of the project [the Aral-Kazarman Section (195 km-291 km)] is being financed with a RMB 697,562,608.76 government concessional loan (GCL) from China Eximbank (Project ID#46350) and a 185,254,119 PBC from China Eximbank (Project ID#53585). Phase 3 of the project [the Balykchy-Kyzyl-Zhyldyz Section (0-183km) was funded by the Asian Development Bank. 3. The project identification number in the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic’s Aid Management Platform (AMP) is 87188512762. 4. The China Eximbank (PBC) loan agreement can be accessed in its entirety via https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20488737-kgz_2015_425. 5. A detailed loan repayment reschedule (that the Kyrgyz Ministry of Finance shared with AidData in July 2022) can be accessed via https://www.dropbox.com/s/xg0cmomv0qk7cbj/Repayments.xlsx?dl=0. The schedule reflects actual repayments through December 31, 2021 and planned/scheduled repayments after December 31, 2021. Note also that (a) China Eximbank granted the Government of Kyrgyz Republic a a deferral of payments for the period from August 2021 to December 2021, and (b) the deferred principal and interest amounts are included in the main body of the debt and the repayment amounts of the deferrals (with additional accrued interest for granting a deferment) are already included in the repayment schedule.

Number of official sources

12

Number of total sources

33