EBRD, Bank Eskhata to finance traditional Tajik food producer
By Aynur Jafarova
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Bank Eskhata has signed a new joint financing agreement on allocation of a loan worth $500,000 to Dilpisand, a producer of traditional Tajik food.
The loan comes under the EBRD's Medium Sized Co-Financing Facility (MCFF) designed to meet the financing needs of medium-sized private companies in countries such as Tajikistan where the requirements of such businesses are outgrowing the financial sector.
The financing is also accompanied by a technical cooperation grant from the EBRD’s Early Transition Countries (ETC) Fund which enabled the EBRD to engage a consultant to work with Bank Eskhata to help develop the project and train the bankers for the future implementation of similar projects. Bank Eskhata, the fifth-largest bank in Tajikistan, joined the EBRD's MCFF program in 2012.
Dilpisand produces traditional Tajik mince pies, sambusa and handmade dumplings known as manti. The company, part of the family-run Yakhmos Group, sells the produce through its own chain of nine small café-bakeries located mostly in the Sugd region of Tajikistan.
“The financing will help Dilpisand open 14 new cafés in different parts of the country, including the capital Dushanbe,” EBRD said on November 24.
Nadia Petkova, a senior banker for agribusiness at the EBRD said the EBRD has teamed up with Bank Eskhata to support the growth of successful companies like Dilpisand.
“Our previous joint loan helped the company expand and win a larger share of the market. We are now looking forward to seeing Dilpisand become a leading, modern, fast food chain selling traditional products of very high quality,” she added.
In 2013 the EBRD and Bank Eskhata provided their first loan worth $350,000 to Dilpisand which was used to buy quick-freezing machines and refurbish the company’s production facilities. The investment enabled the company to increase its output of sambusa and manti.
“The extension of EBRD and Bank Eskhata support will allow us to pursue the company’s strategic development,” Dilpisand CEO and co-owner Mirzoabbos Muminzoda said.
Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises is one of the ways in which the EBRD is boosting growth in Tajikistan. Since the beginning of its operations in the country, the bank has invested some $400 million in various sectors of the economy, focusing on areas that tangibly improve people’s lives, such as public utilities and infrastructure.