The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is to allocate a $80mn-equivalent loan to fund upgrades of wastewater treatment facilities at the Atyrau oil refinery in Kazakhstan.

The financing is set to benefit nearly 300,000 inhabitants of Atyrau in western Kazakhstan. The remediation work will result from a long-term engagement between the EBRD and the refinery that combines funding and reforms aimed at reducing the plant’s environmental impact.

The EBRD loan will be disbursed in Kazakh tenge. The lending will help the Atyrau oil refinery - a subsidiary of state-run oil and gas firm KazMunayGas - construct a secure 3.5 kilometre sewage pipeline,  modernise industrial wastewater treatment facilities and overhaul 860 hectares of evaporation ponds.

“Once implemented, the project will increase water reuse and reduce the withdrawal of freshwater from the Ural River. The latter is especially important for the Atyrau region, known for its low levels of rainfall throughout the year,” the EBRD said in a statement. 

The new treatment facilities will eventually lead to improvements in the quality of treated industrial wastewater, the full substitution of freshwater intake from the river and a reduction in odours associated with the refinery’s obsolete treatment facility and canals.

To date, the EBRD has invested over $7.95bn in the economy of Kazakhstan via 280 projects.