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EBRD adopts new Turkmenistan strategy
The Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
has adopted a new strategy for Turkmenistan which expresses grave concerns
about the country’s continuing lack of progress with regard to democratic and
economic reform.
Under current circumstances the Bank will not be able to move beyond a
baseline scenario under which it confines its activities to financing small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and maintaining a dialogue with the
Government and civil society on ways to improve the investment climate for
private entrepreneurs.
The Bank strongly urges the authorities of Turkmenistan to implement the
necessary political and economic reforms, which will make it possible for the
Bank to expand its activities for the benefit of the Turkmen people.
The new strategy and the text of a letter from EBRD President Jean Lemierre to
the President of Turkmenistan are available at www.ebrd.com.
In line with the strategies adopted both in 2000 and 2002, the EBRD’s role in
Turkmenistan over the next two years is linked to the degree of commitment to
reform and willingness to implement concrete improvements.
The document sets out three alternative scenarios that will determine the
extent of the Bank’s engagement. In the base case, with no noticeable progress
on economic and political reforms, the EBRD will focus on the private sector
and exclude any new investments in the public sector. Under the intermediate
and regular scenarios, the EBRD would increase its involvement in Turkmenistan
once the government had demonstrated its commitment to democratic reforms and
economic liberalisation.
The EBRD requires that its countries of operations apply the principles of
multi-party democracy, pluralism and market economics. When Turkmenistan
joined the Bank in 1992, it accepted this requirement, as laid down in Article
1 of the 1990 Agreement Establishing the Bank.
Total EBRD investment commitments in Turkmenistan stand at €127.8 million. In
2003 the Bank invested €500,000. It has made no investments so far in 2004.
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