China Eximbank provides $183.95 million preferential buyer’s credit for 33 km Astana Bypass Road Reconstruction Project (Linked to Project ID#54989, #54990, and #55016)

On May 15, 2017, the Export-Import Bank of China and JSC KazAutoZhol National Company Joint Stock Company (JSC NC KazAutoZhol or азАвтоЖол)— a Kazakh state-owned transportation company — signed a $183.95 million preferential buyer’s credit (PBC) agreement for the 33 km Astana Bypass Road Reconstruction Project. The PBC carries the following borrowing terms: a 2% interest rate, a 5-year grace period, and a 20-year maturity. The Government of Kazakhstan provided a sovereign guarantee for the loan. The proceeds of the PBC were to be used by the borrower to finance 85% of the cost of a $173 million commercial (EPC) contract between China Xinxing Construction and Development Co. Ltd (Xinxing Construction) and KazAutoZhol. The purpose of the project was to reconstruct the 34.4 km long southwest bypass of Astana (part of the K-1 Ring Road), giving it an asphalt and concrete surface. The road runs from the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport to the M36 highway. Upon completion, the road was expected to allow freight vehicles to travel around the city, reducing urban traffic and enabling the development of of logistics centers and service facilities along the K-1 Ring Road. Construction began in December 2017 and the road was expected to be fully operational by 2019. Construction activities were suspended for a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, project implementation restarted in May 2020. The project was officially completed and the road was opened to traffic on November 29, 2019.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the 33 km Astana Ring Road Project, the Southwest Astana Bypass Road Reconstruction Project, the Nur-Sultan Southwest Ring Road Project, and the XH33 Project. The Chinese project title is 努尔苏丹市西南环城公路 or 哈萨克斯坦首都西南环城公路项目. The Kazakh project title is «Астана қаласының айналма жолы». The Russian project title is Строительство автомобильной дороги Юго-Западный обход города Астаны. 2. In its 2018 financial statements, JSC NC KazAutoZhol disclosed that it signed 4 preferential buyer’s credit (PBC) agreements with China Eximbank in 2017 worth $1,667,577,000 to support 4 road reconstruction projects: a $434.5 million PBC for the Kalbatau–Maikapshagai Road Reconstruction Project (captured via Project ID#54990), a $796 million PBC for the Taldy-Korgan-Kalbatau-Ust-Kamenogorsk Road Reconstruction Project (captured via Project ID#55016), a $253.3 million PBC for the Merke-Burylbaital Highway Reconstruction Project (captured via Project ID#54989), and a $183.95 million PBC for the Astana Bypass Road Reconstruction Project (captured via Project ID#54991) (see that the loans were PBCs at "哈萨克斯坦总理马明视察中国企业承建公路项目": see rest at pg.14 of "Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2018"). The combined monetary value of these 4 PBC is $1,667,750,000, which is very close to $1,667,577,000 figure reported in the 2018 financial statements of JSC NC KazAutoZhol. 3. This China Eximbank loan is not included in the China’s Overseas Development Finance Dataset that Boston University's Global Development Policy Center published in December 2020. 4. The borrowing terms of the loan are specified in this official source (https://www.dropbox.com/s/5bx9wt7r2tq10ag/%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B9%20%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%82%20%D0%B7%D0%B0%202020%D0%B3.pdf?dl=0).

Number of official sources

24

Number of total sources

33