ASHGABAT (TCA) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is boosting its support for private sector development in Turkmenistan by extending a US $2.1 million loan to the private transport company Avtotrans.
The loan will be used to finance an acquisition of up to 25 semi-trailer trucks and other vehicles such as truck cranes, buses and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) to support the company’s present and future activities in transportation and construction, the EBRD press office said. Avtotrans is also planning to expand its fleet to gradually tap into the international transportation market. The company is currently looking into new export and import opportunities with industrial producers in various sectors in Belarus, Turkey, Afghanistan, China and Ukraine.
This will support Turkmenistan’s closer and deeper integration into the global economy – one of the EBRD’s key goals for Turkmenistan.
Engin Goksu, EBRD Head of Office in Ashgabat, said: “The transportation market in Turkmenistan is fragmented and dominated by freelance individual entrepreneurs, who own just one or two vehicles. By supporting a larger company with a proven track record, the EBRD is contributing to increasing the quality of services in the country and especially outside the relatively well-developed capital Ashgabat, such as the Lebap province where the company operates.”
Individual enterprise Avtotrans Holding Company undertakes construction, transportation, trading and advertising activities in the Lebap province in the north-east of Turkmenistan. It was founded in 1995 as a provider of transport services and over the years diversified into other business segments.
The project was supported by technical cooperation funded by the EU-EBRD SME Finance Facility for Central Asia.
To date, the EBRD has invested €238 million into various sectors of the economy of Turkmenistan. Most of the Bank’s clients in the country are privately owned small and medium-sized businesses.
