EBRD supports first healthcare-sector PPP in Central Asia

A 630-bed hospital to be built in Kokshetau under PPP scheme

• The EBRD arranged a €365 million financing package for the first healthcare facility management public-private partnership project in Kazakhstan
• Funds to help a Rönesans Holding subsidiary to build and operate a major hospital in Kokshetau
• Project co-financed by the AIIB, DEG, ICD, Proparco and DBK

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is promoting advanced standards of medical care and helping to introduce a public-private partnership (PPP) model to Kazakhstan's healthcare-sector by arranging a financing package of €365 million provided by six financial institutions for the construction and operation of a 630-bed multidisciplinary hospital in the city of Kokshetau.

The financing, including the EBRD's own loan of €105 million, will be provided to a Kazakhstan-based subsidiary of Rönesans Holdingof Türkiye- a long-term EBRD client operating in the construction, real estate, infrastructure, healthcare and energy sectors in 30 countries.

The project will be co-financed through parallel loans for the total amount of up to €260 million provided by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB), the German investment corporation DEG, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector(ICD), Proparco, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement and the Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK).

This first PPP in the healthcare sector of Kazakhstan and Central Asia will be a greenfield development of a 110,000 m² facility, which will provide services to more than 730,000 people living in the city of Kokshetau and the wider region of Akmola.

According to the PPP agreement, the private partner will be responsible for maintaining the facility and for running a digital hospital information management system (HIMS). Provided on a 24-hour basis, the HIMS will become a benchmark for the digitalisation of Kazakhstan's healthcare sector. Medical services will be provided by Turar Healthcare, a state-owned non-profit national healthcare operator.

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Bassosaid: "The EBRD is very happy to join forces with our longstanding client Rönesans Holding to launch the first healthcare sector PPP in Kazakhstan and the region. Recognised as one of the most effective forms of long-term contractual relationship between the public and private sectors, PPPs will help provide sustainable healthcare solutions, bring new technologies and improve the quality of medical services."

The new hospital will seek to receive a "Silver" rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green-building certification programme, which recognises best-in-class building strategies and practices. It will also aim to obtain an EDGEcertification for water and energy savings.

To date, the EBRD has invested €10 billion in 330 projects in Kazakhstan, with most of those funds supporting private entrepreneurship.