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EBRD shareholder representatives visit Serbia and Montenegro
A delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors arrives in Serbia and Montenegro
on Sunday for a 3½-day visit that involves meetings with Boris Tadic,
President of Serbia, Milo Djukanovic, Prime Minister of Montenegro, and other
senior government officials from the Union. They will also meet with local and
foreign business leaders, representatives from the international community
based in Serbia and Montenegro and they will visit projects in which the EBRD
has invested.
Representatives of the Board in the delegation include Byung-II Kim, Korea,
Australia, New Zealand and Egypt, Ib Katznelson, for Denmark, Ireland,
Lithuania and FYR of Macedonia, Imre Tarafas, for Hungary, Czech Republic,
Slovak Republic and Croatia, Kalin Mitrev, for Bulgaria, Poland and Albania,
Laurent Guye, for Switzerland, Turkey, Liechtenstein, Serbia and Montenegro,
Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, Michael Neumayr,
for Austria, Israel, Cyprus, Malta, Kazakhstan and Bosnia & Herzegovina, Scott
Clark, for Canada and Morocco, Simon Ray, for the UK, and Tomas Danestad, for
Sweden, Iceland and Estonia. The Directors will be accompanied by Olivier
Descamps, EBRD Business Group Director for Southern and Eastern Europe and
Dragica Pilipovic, head of the Bank’s office in Serbia and Montenegro.
The Board of Directors, which approves all EBRD investments, represents the
Bank’s 62 shareholders - 60 countries plus the European Community and the
European Investment Bank. Their visit aims to underline the Bank's commitment
to support investments in Serbia and Montenegro and to help Directors better
understand the country's investment climate and reform efforts.
Ahead of the visit, Simon Ray, EBRD Board Director for the United Kingdom and
spokesperson for the Delegation, said the aim of the trip is to get an
overview of the economic and political progress being made in Serbia and
Montenegro. The trip is also considered crucial for enabling Directors to
formulate an overview of the country’s ongoing progress ahead of the Bank’s
latest strategy for Serbia and Montenegro, expected in November 2004.
The EBRD is the largest single investor in Serbia and Montenegro, with more
than €585 million invested in over 50 projects ranging sectors from
agribusiness to banking and energy to supporting small and medium-sized
enterprises. Working with its partners from the public and private sector, the
Bank has mobilised around €600 million in additional investments.
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