EBRD President pays virtual visit to Greece
The President of the EBRD, Odile Renaud-Basso, visited Greece on 18 and 19 February in a virtual format. With €800 million invested in Greece in 2020, the country became one of the top five economies where EBRD invests.
The President met representatives of the government as well as private sector companies and the banking sector. Leading news organisations such as the Athens News Agency, Kathimerini’s Money Review, Capital.gr, Imerisia and The National Herald reported about the visit.
EBRD appoints Harry Boyd-Carpenter Managing Director, Green Economy and Climate Action
Strengthening its capacity to deliver its goal to become a majority green bank by 2025, the EBRD this week appointed Harry Boyd-Carpenter new Managing Director, Green Economy and Climate Change. Prior to his appointment, Mr Boyd-Carpenter was EBRD’s Director, Head of Energy, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Project Finance International reported.
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EBRD and UN Women join forces to address pandemic’s economic impact on women
The EBRD and UN Women are joining forces to cooperate and boost efforts in making gender equality and women’s empowerment a priority in the Covid-19 response and recovery efforts, expecting to benefit millions of women who have been deeply hurt by the pandemic, especially those in insecure employment.
The two organisations will seek to support gender equality through data, policies and programming targeting women-owned enterprises and building partnerships with the private sector.
EBRD and EDFI to “partner for impact”
The EBRD and the Association of European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) are joining forces to strengthen the impact of their work in addressing recovery priorities as well as long-term challenges like climate change. The two organisations signed an MoU this week with the goal to intensify collaboration among European DFIs with a strong private-sector focus.
Project signings
Supporting green investments in Kosovo
In Kosovo, the Bank provided a €2.5 million loan to ProCredit Bank Kosovo to support investments in high-performance green technologies, materials and solutions undertaken in or in relation to privately owned residential buildings.
The financing is extended under the EBRD’s Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) for the Western Balkans which supports residential energy efficiency investments in a region that includes some of the most energy-intense countries in Europe and suffers from high emissions of greenhouse gases.
US$ 100 million loan to Turkey’s Denizbank
In Turkey, the EBRD provided a US$ 100 million loan fto Denizbank A.S. to support the Women in Business programme to finance women-led SMEs and the Turkey Sustainable Energy Finance Facility programme in favour of resource efficiency and small-scale renewable energy investments. The European Union is supporting both initiatives with grant funding.
EBRD in the news
Chief Economist in Handelsblatt
The leading German business daily Handelsblatt published the latest column “Homo Oeconomicus” by EBRD Chief Economist Beata Javorcik. She warns against the emergence of a duopoly of large and profitable private corporations and big state-owned enterprises squeezing out smaller competitors in the wake of the coronacrisis pandemic.
President in Capital
In an interview with the German business monthly Capital, EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso stresses that the current massive state intervention to address the coronavirus crisis must not become a permanent solution. “We need exit scenarios for the time after the crisis and we must be very clear that we are witnessing today is the exception, not the rule”, the President says.
How the crisis has hit investigations
In an interview with Global Investigation Review, Rohan Schaap, EBRD Director, Investigations, Office of the Chief Compliance Officer, set out how the Bank’s is coping with challenges imposed by the crisis on his team’s work. “Fortunately for the Investigations Team, the EBRD has a fantastic network of Resident Offices and many EBRD personnel are based in the field. We have been able to utilise these offices and Bank personnel to make our remote investigations effective.”
EBRD in social media
The EBRD Gender account on Twitter was officially launched this week.
Watch a conversation between EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso and the Director of the Bruegel think tank, Guntram Wolff, on the Bank’s mission, the President’s first 100 days in office and the EBRD’s green agenda for inclusive recovery across all regions.
The Bank has been highlighting the partnership with INSOL Europe. Together we are promoting sound insolvency systems to meet Covid-19 challenges.
The Turkish city of Izmir has taken important steps within the EBRD Green Cities urban sustainability framework.
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