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EBRD Board Directors to Visit Ukraine
Representatives of the shareholders of the EBRD begin a six-day visit to
Ukraine on Sunday, June 17. The Board of Directors represents the Bank's 63
public shareholders and has to approve all Bank projects before they are put
into action.
The visit will take the participants to the important Ukrainian industrial
cities of Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhye in the south and centre of the
country as well as the capital of Ukraine, Kiev. The Directors are planning to
see existing and prospective clients of the Bank in Ukraine including
Illichevsk Sea Port, Dnipropetrovsk Oil Extraction Plant (Oleina TM),
Zaporizhstal Steel Mill and SBK brick producer. During their stay the Board
members will meet senior representatives of the national and regional
authorities as well as representatives of the diplomatic and business
communities and civil society.
Representatives of the Board in the delegation will be Alain de Cointet,
representing France; João Cravinho, representing Portugal and Greece; Gonzalo
Ramos, representing Spain and Mexico; Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, representing
Poland, Bulgaria and Albania; Igor Podoliev, representing Ukraine, Romania,
Moldova, Georgia and Armenia; Rainald Roesch, representing Germany; Irena
Sodin, representing Slovenia, Belgium and Luxembourg and Terence Brown,
representing the European Investment Bank.
In 2006 new annual commitments reached 800 m EUR – the second biggest annual
commitment of the Bank after Russia. Overall, Ukraine has become EBRD's third
largest investment destination after Russia and Poland, representing 8.7% of
the Bank's signed commitments.
Ukraine’s recent economic performance has been strong, with real GDP growth
rebounding in 2006, driven by robust domestic demand and favourable external
conditions. Political uncertainty has had limited economic impact, but may
affect investment growth and slow down private capital inflows if it is
protracted.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the biggest financial
investor in Ukraine. As of the end January 2007 it had committed over €2.87
billion through more than 130 projects.
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