ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to Finland Oct. 16-17 resulted in 23 agreements worth $545 million, including the Framework Agreement between Kazakhstan and the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) that has been in discussions since last year, reported Primeminister.kz.
Sven Hegelund (L). Photo credit: nib.int.
The Framework Agreement was signed by NIB President Henrik Normann, General Counsel Heikki Cantell and Kazakh Minister of National Economy Timur Suleimenov.
The agreement aims to finance projects in Kazakhstan in the form of public-private partnerships, engage in investments such as corporate and sovereign loans and bank guarantees and create the conditions for technology transfer. According to NIB chairman of the board Sven Hegelund, NIB could play an important role in assisting Kazakhstan in accelerating the modernisation of its economy.
NIB can fund projects outside its membership region only if the country that signs an agreement recognises the bank’s status as an international financial institution. According to the Framework Agreement, Kazakhstan ensures the application of a non-discriminatory regime of taxation, customs and other issues related to NIB projects and contracts. The bank is to enjoy the full status of a legal entity in Kazakhstan, including the right to make contracts, acquire and dispose movable and immovable property and act as a party to legal proceedings. Its bonds, securities and other comparable financial instruments will operate under the regime of international financial institutions.
NIB is one of the biggest financial institutions of Scandinavia and the Baltics. It has 43 active agreements with countries around the world, of which 39 are framework agreements and four are memorandums of understanding. The bank has the right to guarantee and allocate long-term financial resources exceeding its share capital up to 250 percent. NIB mostly invests in the environment, energy, transport, communications and innovation.
