- EBRD Vice President for Policy Mark Bowman will visit Albania and Kosovo
- Will hold meetings with authorities, private businesses, diplomats
- EBRD total investment exceeds €1.9 billion in Albania, €625 million in Kosovo
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Vice-President for Policy Mark Bowman will visit Albania on 19-21 September and Kosovo on 21-23 September 2022.
In Albania, Mr Bowman will meet with members of the government, the head of the central bank, diplomats, the European Union (EU) negotiator for Albania, representatives of fellow international financial institutions (IFIs) and private-sector businesses.
He will also speak at the Western Balkans Regional Smart Cities Conference on 20 September, which will focus on the green and digital transition across the Western Balkans. Mr Bowman will highlight the EBRD Green Cities programme, which spans more than 50 cities on three continents and has €3 billion in committed funding. Tirana, Albania’s capital, is one of the EBRD Green Cities.
On the Albanian part of his trip, he will be accompanied by Charlotte Ruhe, EBRD Managing Director for Central and South-Eastern Europe, and Ekaterina Solovova, EBRD Head of Albania.
EBRD investment in Albania is expected to reach €200 million this year, with most of the financing going to private-sector projects.
In Kosovo, Mr Bowman will meet the Prime Minister and members of the government, representatives of partner IFIs, diplomats, business association members and private-sector clients. On 22 September, he will speak at the Western Balkans 6 Digital Summit.
In Pristina, Mr Bowman will sign a project under the new EBRD Youth in Business programme for the Western Balkans, which will provide financing and advice to entrepreneurs under the age of 35. The first project in Kosovo will soon be followed by projects in other countries across the region. On the Kosovo leg of the trip, he will be accompanied by Neil Taylor, EBRD Head of Kosovo.
The new EBRD country strategy for Kosovo, adopted earlier this year, focuses on private-sector support, the green economy transition and regional integration.
The EBRD expects to invest €70 million in Kosovo this year.
The Western Balkans is a priority region for the EBRD. The Bank is supporting its economic, transport and energy integration with neighbouring countries and partners across Europe more broadly.
The Bank has to date invested more than €16 billion in the Western Balkans region and continues to invest more than €1 billion there every year.
In February this year, the six prime ministers of the region once again shared the stage with EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso at the biannual Western Balkans Summit to discuss investment opportunities. Other senior EBRD management visits in 2022 have included North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the EBRD President will visit Serbia next week.
