PPP in the Eurasian space
The availability, accessibility and connectivity of infrastructure directly affect the socio-economic development of all EDB member states. Under current conditions, the need to build new logistics chains has made the requirements for expanding infrastructure incomparably higher. Yet most states simply cannot bridge their infrastructure gaps using state budget funds alone.
PPP enables states to:
Accelerate the launch of infrastructure facilities, on the one hand, while on the other deferring the related budget expenditure to a later date — that is, shifting construction start dates to the left and budget spending to the right;
Provide a greater volume of high-quality public services to a greater number of users;
Transfer to the private partner part of the construction, commercial and financial risks, as well as the functions of delivering services to the public, which it often performs far more efficiently than the state itself, and more.
The number of PPP projects depends directly on the quality of their pre-project preparation and on their attractiveness to private investors and financing institutions. The minimum conditions necessary to build a sustainable pipeline of PPP projects include a favourable PPP legal framework, well-functioning PPP support institutions, and project teams with practical skills in preparing and supporting the implementation of PPP projects, among others.
Such conditions for the development of PPP in the Eurasian space can be ensured more effectively given the advantages that membership of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Eurasian Development Bank affords states.
The Eurasian Development Bank, as an international financial organisation and a development institution:
Offers a broad range of credit and non-credit products for PPP projects
Has the capacity to ensure the availability of financial resources for PPP projects
Provides states with technical assistance in carrying out PPP legislative reforms, strengthening institutional mechanisms, building practical competencies in structuring bankable PPP projects, and preparing the full package of documentation for PPP projects that are significant for the integration and sustainable development of EDB member states and ready for launch and financing
The institutional environment for PPP in the countries of the Eurasian space
The level of PPP development largely depends on the effectiveness of the public administration system in the field of PPP and on the PPP institutional environment. In all states of the Eurasian space, PPP governance structures (PPP Units) have been established — as authorised bodies within ministries of economy, departments and agencies, and/or as specialised PPP centres.
However, the existence of a PPP governance structure is not in itself a factor of success. Only a correctly defined organisational and legal form — based on development objectives and the country’s infrastructure needs — together with the scope of its functions and powers, its staffing and funding, and well-established interaction with all parties involved in PPP development and all PPP market participants, can ensure the build-up of PPP capacity at the country level.
PPP centres in EDB member states differ in their organisational and legal form:
They perform a varying range of functions and powers:
Some have the broadest: developing and implementing a unified PPP policy, improving PPP legislation, drafting and reviewing project documents, selecting PPP projects and private partners, disseminating PPP knowledge and experience, building PPP competencies, ensuring interagency coordination, communicating with investors and lenders, maintaining the register of PPP projects and monitoring them (so-called “Full Service PPP Agencies” in international practice)
Others have a combination of functions and powers related mainly to reviewing PPP project documentation and advising the bodies that take management decisions on PPP projects (“Review PPP Agency”), or a narrow range of functions involving research, knowledge dissemination and the building of PPP competencies (“PPP Center of Excellence”).
The role and status of PPP centres are not static; they may change as a country moves from one level of PPP development to another, implements its national PPP programme and meets its infrastructure needs.
PPP governance structures:
- State Committee on Investments and State Property Management of the Republic of Tajikistan
- PPP Council under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan
- State Institution “PPP Project Implementation Centre”
- Ministry of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic
- PPP Council under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic
- National Agency for Investments under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
- State Institution “Public-Private Partnership Centre”
- Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus
- Interagency Infrastructure Coordination Council
- State Institution “National Agency for Investment and Privatisation”
The EDB contributes to the development of the PPP institutional environment:
At the country level
Across the Eurasian space as a whole
PPP legislation in the countries of the Eurasian space
In all EDB member states, the legal regulation of PPP is set out in dedicated PPP laws that are not of a framework nature but rather regulate a wide range of PPP relations in considerable detail. EDB member states follow similar legislative approaches in defining PPP, the principles of PPP regulation, the legal status of public and private partners as well as lenders, the division of powers among authorised PPP bodies, the list of conditions for PPP agreements, and more. At the same time, the forms of PPP, the procedures for selecting PPP projects and identifying private partners, state support measures, dispute settlement mechanisms and other matters are regulated differently. To a large extent, these differences stem from the varying levels of economic development of the states, the maturity of the PPP market and its attractiveness to private investors for participation in public infrastructure development, the differing views of public partners on their role in PPP projects, and budgetary capacities. However, the differences between PPP laws are not insurmountable. PPP laws can be harmonised on many legal provisions, as evidenced by the uniformity of the principles on which states regulate PPP-related relations.
Provisions on setting a limit for PPP contingent liabilities; on the types of state support in PPP projects (grants, subsidies, asset allocation, minimum revenue and/or consumption guarantees, demand guarantees, budget guarantees, loans, and reimbursement of PPP project costs and risks); on the possibility of resolving disputes through alternative means as well as in international commercial or investment arbitration; and provisions on immunity;
Guarantees of the rights of public and private partners and lenders;
Detailed regulation of the submission and assessment of unsolicited proposals and of the creation of and participation in consortia, as well as provisions allowing foreign law to be applied to a PPP agreement;
The PPP principle of “value for the public”, and provisions on payment mechanisms, sources of financing and sources of revenue for PPP entities;
The subordination of intergovernmental PPP projects to the regulation of international treaties, and a special “project sandbox” regulatory regime for implementing innovative PPP projects;
A detailed elaboration of the conceptual framework, a “constructor” of PPP form elements, and the possibility for two or more public partners to participate in a PPP project;
Guarantees of the lender’s rights, including compensation paid to lenders in the event of early termination of a PPP agreement, types of PPP support, and more.
The PPP laws of EDB member states are assessed differently in terms of their alignment with international standards of PPP regulation (according to assessments by the World Bank and the EBRD, the PPP laws of Russia and Kazakhstan demonstrate a greater degree of alignment).
In the EDB’s assessment, the PPP law of each EDB member state contains a number of effective legal provisions that can serve as a reference point for other states of the Eurasian space in improving their PPP legislation at the country level:
Provisions on setting a limit for PPP contingent liabilities; on the types of state support in PPP projects (grants, subsidies, asset allocation, minimum revenue and/or consumption guarantees, demand guarantees, budget guarantees, loans, and reimbursement of PPP project costs and risks); on the possibility of resolving disputes through alternative means as well as in international commercial or investment arbitration; and provisions on immunity;
Guarantees of the rights of public and private partners and lenders;
The PPP principle of “value for the public”, and provisions on payment mechanisms, sources of financing and sources of revenue for PPP entities;
The subordination of intergovernmental PPP projects to the regulation of international treaties, and a special “project sandbox” regulatory regime for implementing innovative PPP projects;
A detailed elaboration of the conceptual framework, a “constructor” of PPP form elements, and the possibility for two or more public partners to participate in a PPP project;
Detailed regulation of the submission and assessment of unsolicited proposals and of the creation of and participation in consortia, as well as provisions allowing foreign law to be applied to a PPP agreement;
Guarantees of the lender’s rights, including compensation paid to lenders in the event of early termination of a PPP agreement, types of PPP support, and more.
The EDB contributes to the development of a favourable PPP legal environment:
At the country level
Across the Eurasian space as a whole
PPP markets in the countries of the Eurasian space
PPP markets in EDB member states differ in their quantitative indicators but are largely similar in their sectoral specifics and development trends.
PPP markets in figures
The leading positions in the number of PPP projects and the volume of investment are held by the PPP markets of Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Russian PPP market shows the most mature indicators: as of 1 December 2025, around 4,400 PPP projects with a total investment of 7.5 trillion roubles, of which 5.4 trillion roubles is private investment. In Kazakhstan, as of 1 November 2025, 1,249 PPP agreements and concessions worth 3,556 billion tenge had been concluded. In Uzbekistan, as of 1 November 2025, 2,800 PPP projects worth USD 34 billion are at various stages of implementation. The PPP project market in Kyrgyzstan is promising: as of 1 October 2025, the project portfolio comprised 90 PPP projects with a total investment of more than 434 billion soms.
Drivers of PPP market growth
- A programme-based approach to building a portfolio of PPP projects based on infrastructure development plans within countries and across the Eurasian space;
- State support to address priority infrastructure needs (preferential PPP financial mechanisms and priority co-financing, special legal regimes, and more);
- Digitalisation of the processes of preparing and supporting the implementation of PPP projects, the creation of a unified digital PPP space and digital project offices to simplify interagency interaction, and the creation of communication channels between public authorities and potential investors;
- Standardisation of project documents and PPP agreements based on best PPP practice to improve their quality, shorten launch times and reduce costs for PPP project participants;
- Greater transparency of management decisions related to the development of PPP projects, tender procedures and the fulfilment of obligations under PPP agreements;
- The continuous building of PPP competencies;
- Partnership with international and national development institutions (banks).
The EDB contributes to creating PPP market growth points:
At the country level
Across the Eurasian space as a whole
EDB’s accumulated PPP project portfolio