Five months after welcoming Kosovo as its 66th member country, the EBRD has adopted its first full strategy for the country, now available on http://www.ebrd.com/pages/country/kosovo/strategy.shtml.
The document builds on the experience made since the Bank started limited activities in 1999. The Bank now sees an opportunity to contribute to the acceleration of the reform process and support the economy of Kosovo.
In its strategy the Bank identifies the following key strategic directions for the coming three years, the period covered by the country strategy:
- Supporting privatisation and private sector development. The EBRD will provide financial and technical support to facilitate transparent privatisation of key assets as well as access to finance, especially for SMEs and help attract foreign investment capital to the country.
- Enhancing commercialisation, competition and private sector involvement in infrastructure. The quality of infrastructure constitutes a significant barrier to business and market development and regional linkages. The EBRD will assist the authorities in strengthening the commercial elements in water, waste water and solid waste utilities, as well as within the broader transport sector.
- Promoting and supporting sustainable development of the energy sector. The EBRD will support efforts to create commercially viable and environmentally sustainable operations in the energy sector (generation, transmission) and measures to implement the existing framework to support energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, in order to ensure security of supply.
The Bank will combine investments, active policy dialogue and technical assistance to promote sustainable long-term development and transition in Kosovo.
Kosovo became a member of the Bank and a country of operations on 17 December 2012. However, private sector projects in Kosovo were eligible for EBRD support since 1999, via the Bank’s regional facilities for the Western Balkans dedicated to support small private sector projects. Within this scope, since 1999 the Bank had signed a total of 29 projects in Kosovo with a cumulative EBRD investment value of €66 million.
