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EBRD Board Directors visit South Caucasus

01 December 2008 10:27 (UTC +04:00)

Representatives of the shareholders of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are arriving in Tbilisi on Monday for a five-day visit to Georgia and Armenia.
The EBRD Office in Baku said the delegation will not visit Azerbaijan because the bank sent representatives to Azerbaijan in October, 2007.
During their visits, the EBRD Board Directors will meet with government representatives, members of the diplomatic and business communities and representatives of civil society. They will also have the opportunity to visit EBRD projects in both countries.
Representatives of the Board in the delegation will be Alain de Cointet, representing France; Carole Garnier, representing the European Community; Ib Katznelson, representing Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, and FYR Macedonia; David Martinez Hornillos, representing Spain and Mexico; Kalin Mitrev, representing Bulgaria, Poland and Albania; Hans Sprokkreeff, representing the Netherlands and Mongolia; Joao Cravinho, representing Portugal and Greece; and Igor Podoliev, representing Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia. During their visit, the Board Directors will be accompanied by Michael Davey, EBRD Director for the Caucasus and Belarus.
In Georgia, the Board Directors will meet government representatives headed by Finance Minister Nika Gilauri, who is also the EBRD Governor for his country. In Armenia, where the EBRD delegation will start its mission on Thursday, meetings have been scheduled with President Serge Sargsian, Prime Minister Nerses Yeritsyan and Minister of Finance and EBRD Governor Tigran Davtyan.
The EBRD has significantly increased its activities in Georgia and Armenia in recent years and invested more than $400 million in Georgia and almost â‚¬200 million in Armenia in all sectors of the economy. Both countries are part of the Early Transition Countries Initiative, launched in April 2004, which is using a streamlined approach to financing to mobilise investment and encourage economic reform.