The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is actively rolling out its risk-sharing framework in Central Asia and Mongolia, the bank announced. Under the RSF, the EBRD commits to sharing half of the risk on loans extended by partner financial institutions, helping to unlock critical development opportunities for local businesses.
In 2025, the EBRD signed 31 risk-sharing transactions worth €28.5 million with 26 companies in Central Asia and Mongolia, an all-time regional record. The Bank supported privately owned companies, typically small and medium-sized enterprises, mainly in the manufacturing, food production, and agribusiness sectors, as well as ones providing services. Many of these transactions went beyond traditional financing, combining capital with investment grants and advisory services to help companies strengthen their capacity to handle financial and operational challenges.
Projects across the region included support for Temirservice Astana, a privately owned railway operator in Kazakhstan, which received a KZT 1.9 billion loan from Bank CenterCredit for the construction of an 11,000 square meter class-A warehouse complex. In the Kyrgyz Republic, Steelex, a leading aluminium extrusion manufacturer, received $4.8 million from Demir Kyrgyz International Bank to support its vertical integration and help expand aluminium scrap recycling.
In Mongolia, the EBRD signed its first risk-sharing transaction in the telecommunications sector. A loan of up to $1.2 million, extended jointly by the EBRD and Khan Bank, will provide working capital to IT Zone, one of Mongolia’s top information and communications technology companies. In Tajikistan, Fortuna Co Group received a $1.2 million loan under the RSF from Investment and Credit Bank of Tajikistan to install a 218 kW solar plant, purchase electric vehicles, and modernize equipment.
The EBRD has used risk-sharing agreements since the early 2000s. The EBRD is the largest institutional investor in Central Asia. To date it has financed 1,250 projects worth more than €21 billion.
