Active Commercial AidData Chinese Aid

Silk Road Fund provides RMB 1.4 billion loan for Samarkand Tourism Complex Construction Project

¥1.4M RMB

Funder	Silk Road Fund Co., Ltd. (SRF)
Recipient Organization	National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan (NBU)
Country	Uzbekistan
Start Date	Apr 01, 2020
End Date	Mar 25, 2033
Duration	4,741 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`92622`

Grant Description

Silk Road Fund provides RMB 1.4 billion loan for Samarkand Tourism Complex Construction Project On June 13, 2018, the Silk Road Fund and the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed an MOU regarding the construction of a cultural tourism complex in Samarkand.

Then, in April 2020, the Silk Road Fund and the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed an RMB 1.2 billion ($205 million) loan agreement for the Samarkand Tourism Complex Construction Project. The face value of the loan was subsequently upsized to RMB 1.4 billion in August 2020.

📋 Loan / Grant Terms

💰 Loan Amountcarries a 10-year maturity and a 3-year grace period

📅 Maturity10 years

⏳ Grace Period3 years

Its interest rate is unknown.

However, it is known that the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan on-lent the proceeds of the loan to a special purpose vehicle called Samarkand Touristic Centre Limited Liability Company (that was legally incorporated in Samarkand on November 20, 2019 and is apparently a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan).

The loan achieved a 100% disbursement rate. It disbursed RMB 420 million in 2020 and RMB 980 million in 2021.

As of December 21, 2021, the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan disclosed in its audited financial statements that it was in breach of the non-performing loan ratio covenant of the RMB 1.2 billion loan agreement with the Silk Road Fund.

However, on December 29, 2021, the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity received a waiver of claims from Silk Road Fund in connection with this contractual breach.

The project involves the design, construction, development, commissioning, and operation of the Samarkand Tourism Complex, which aims to revitalize the cultural life and tourism in Samarkand (Uzbekistan's second largest city). The complex is being built on a 360 hectare plot of land.

It includes a large international conference center (‘congress center’), eight hotels (including five, four, and three-star hotels), an open-air theater, waterways, pools, artificial islands, restaurants, cafes, bars, parks, recreation areas, and other cultural, gastro, medical, business and tourism facilities.

Upon completion, it is expected that the complex will be used in connection with the 2022 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit. The project site is located in the eastern part of the city of Samarkand.

It centers around the affluent waterway of the Samarkand rowing canal, which, in Soviet times, served as a training base for the USSR national team and a venue for All Union competitions.

Four of the complex’s hotels sit on the northern bank of the rowing canal, and the other four hotels sit on the southern bank of the rowing canal.

Arup Mühendislik ve Müşavirlik Limited Şirketi (a Turkish firm) and China Construction Engineering Design Group Corporation Ltd. (a subsidiary of CSCEC) are the contractors responsible for project design, and Enter Engineering Pte. Ltd. (a Singaporean firm) is the contractor responsible for project implementation.

The National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan and China Construction Engineering Design Group Corporation Ltd. signed a project design contract in August 2018.

Then, in January 2019, China Construction Engineering Design Group Corporation Ltd. completed a draft master plan for the Samarkand Tourism Center. Project implementation was underway in 2020 and 2021. On April 15, 2021, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev conducted an on-site project inspection.

The Samarkand Tourism Complex is scheduled to open to the pubic in 2022.

📋 Staff Comments

This project is also known as the Samarkand Tourism Center Project, the Samarkand City Project, the Samarkand City Tourist Zone Project, the Samarkand Tourism Center Construction and Development Project, and the Silk Road Samarkand Complex Project. The Chinese project title is 撒马尔罕综合开发项目 or 撒马尔罕旅游中心项目. The Russian project title is Туристический центр Silk Road or проекту строительства туристической зоны «Samarkand city».
Kosta Legal served as counsel to the lender.
The tallest and highest-end hotel in the Samarkand Tourism Complex will be a 22-story structure with 234 rooms (including executive suites and two presidential suites) operated by a Chinese hotel chain. It will be called the Samarkand Regency Hotel.
Mumin Kadyrov is a project manager for the Samarkand Tourism Center Construction and Development Project.
Samarkand Touristic Centre Limited Liability Company is a joint venture of Bakhtiyor Fazilov (60% equity stake) and LLC “NBU Samarkand Invest” (40% equity stake). Bakhtiyor Fazilov is a prominent Uzbek businessman and the Chairman of Eriell Group and Enter Engineering. LLC “NBU Samarkand Invest” is a subsidiary of the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan

📚 Sources & References

KOSTA LEGAL ADVISES THE CHINESE SILK ROAD FUND ON FINANCING THE REDEVELOPMENT OF SAMARKAND
Silk Road Fund Lends Money to NBU for Samarkand Tourism Center Project
Belt and Road Cooperation: Shaping a Brighter Shared Future
Silk Road Fund enters facility agreement with the national bank of Uzbekistan
Samarkand Tourism Center - TL by Tagmydeals
Silk Road Fund Enters into Facility Agreement with Joint-Stock Company “National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan”.pdf
GRAND OPENING OF NEW SILK ROAD SAMARKAND COMPLEX TO TAKE PLACE IN 2022
Silk Road Fund inks co-op agreements with Uzbek enterprise and bank
丝路基金与乌兹别克斯坦国家对外经济银行签署贷款协议
中国高端民族品牌酒店开发技术与管理服务出口“一带一路”实现突破——明宇商旅与撒马尔罕游客中心于2021年服贸会上签署正式合同
Deborah Haines Named Cluster General Manager
Silk Road Samarkand - advantour
A unique tourist complex 'Silk Road Samarkand' is being built in Uzbekistan
What will the tourist center of Samarkand look like and who will build it?
A new terminal at Samarkand airport will be built by the end of the year
Map of Samarkand
CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAMARKAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND TOURIST CENTER
CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAMARKAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND TOURIST CENTER
Enter Engineering reconstructs the golden heritage of Samarkand architecture
Uznatsbank and the Chinese Silk Road Fund will jointly implement the Samarkand city project.
Uzbekistan's agreement for provision of legal assistance chart, 'SAMARKAND TOURISTIC CENTRE' mas’uliyati cheklangan jamiyati, 13 facilities are being built in Samarkand for the SCO meeting. The authorities do not hide that there are problems
Chinese construction giant to work on Samarkand's master plan
China Construction completes the development project of the master plan of Samarkand city
Chinese designers to help to develop Samarkand`s general plan concept
CHINA CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING DESIGN GROUP HAS BEGUN WORK ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAMARKAND MASTER PLAN
Management of Samarkand airport without call for bids handed over to Air Marakanda
Progress of construction on the date of May 2021
Main youtube page for Silk Road Samarkand
Website of Silk Road Samarkand
New Tourist Complex: Silk Road Samarkand
Twitter page of Silk Road Samarkand
NBU Annual report 2019, nbu_ifrs_ye2020_eng.pdf
NBU Consolidated Financial Statements 2021
JOINT-STOCK COMPANY 'NATIONAL BANK FOR FOREIGN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN'
Hallam Chow
The new Great Game: Central Asia struggles to balance three powers
Samarkand
Uzbekistan: Photo from September 2022
Silk Road Samarkand - first international resort in Middle Asia Loan applications and disbursements are still being received and processed as the projects continue to evolve. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are in place to ensure project continuity.