The EBRD Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Francis Malige is visiting the Belarussian capital Minsk on 26-28 August 2014 to meet senior officials, including the Minister of Economy Nikolai Snopkov, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aleksandr Mikhnevich and the Deputy Chairman of the Board of the National Bank Sergei Kalechits. Mr Malige is also planning to meet representatives of International Financial Institutions, the diplomatic community and existing EBRD clients.
This is the first visit to Belarus for Mr Malige since he assumed his new role as Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus on 1 May 2014. Based in Kiev, he is responsible for leading the Bank’s operations in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
EBRD operations in Belarus are determined by the Bank’s current strategy for the country, adopted in March 2013 and focusing predominantly on private sector development. Over the past three years the EBRD has nearly quadrupled its annual business investment and portfolio of projects in Belarus.
The EBRD is a major investor in the country. As of 1 August 2014 the Bank had committed over €1.4 billion through 65 projects.
