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EBRD Board delegation to visit Bulgaria
A delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors arrives in Bulgaria on Sunday for
a 2½-day visit that involves meetings with President Georgi Parvanov, Prime
Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, other government officials, as well as
local and foreign business leaders and representatives of the international
community based in Bulgaria. They will also visit a number of projects in
which the EBRD has invested.
Representatives of the Board in the delegation include Scott Clark, for Canada
and Morocco; Leon Herrera, for Spain and Mexico; Byung-Hwa Jin, for Korea,
Australia, New Zealand and Egypt; Igor Ocka, for the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Slovak Republic and Croatia; Osamu Sakashita, for Japan; Gerd Saupe, for
Germany; Tadeusz Syryjczyk, for Poland, Bulgaria and Albania; Mark Sullivan,
for the United States; and Kalin Mitrev, for Poland, Bulgaria and Albania.
They will be accompanied by John Chomel-Doe, EBRD Director for Bulgaria.
The visit will enable the Directors to get an impression of the country’s
ongoing reform agenda and the challenges it continues to face. Just four
months ago the EBRD issued its revised strategy for Bulgaria, outlining
priority areas for the Bank over the next two years. These include
private-sector development, support for infrastructure projects, as well as
policy dialogue with the authorities to help improve the investment climate.
During the visit, the EBRD is expected to sign two deals to help support the
country’s micro and small business sector, as well as a landmark deal that
will help improve energy efficiency and promote the use of renewable fuels in
Bulgaria.
The EBRD is the largest single investor in Bulgaria, with more than €848
million invested in over 46 projects. Working with partners from the private
sector, the Bank has mobilised a further €3.2 billion.
The Directors’ visit to Bulgaria is the first stop during a five-day trip that
will also include a visit to Croatia.
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