“Uzbekistan can and should become our shareholder”—Yaroslav Mandron

The Eurasian Stabilization and Development Fund is counting on Uzbekistan’s accession. The possibility of the country’s accession is provided for in the Fund’s development strategy through 2031. Yaroslav Mandron, the Fund’s managing director, told “Akchabar” on the sidelines of the International Economic Conference in Astana.

Responding to a journalist’s question about the prospects of Uzbekistan joining the EFSR, including as a donor country, Mandron noted that the Fund is interested in expanding its membership.

“In our strategy through 2031, we anticipate that Uzbekistan can and should become a member of the Fund. It seems to me that without Uzbekistan, the EFSR’s regional reach as a financial institution remains incomplete,” he said.

Mandron recalled that he had previously been involved in the process of Uzbekistan’s accession to the Eurasian Development Bank. According to him, that process took about four years.

“I hope that the experience I gained at the bank will help resolve this issue more efficiently within the framework of the Fund,” noted the EFSR’s managing director.

He also emphasized that the conditions for Uzbekistan’s accession are in place and that there is interest from the countries involved.

However, Mandron did not specify a concrete timeline for Uzbekistan’s accession to the EFSR, nor did he clarify under what status the republic might join the Fund—as a donor country or a recipient of funding.

As a reminder, the Eurasian Stabilization and Development Fund is a regional financial mechanism established in 2009. Its members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.