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Our response to the Covid-19 pandemic

A strong and reliable partner in uncertain times

The EBRD committed to helping efforts to combat the pandemic’s economic impact and prepare for recovery in the economies where we invest.

The EBRD was the first International Financial Institution to approve a comprehensive series of response and recovery measures in its Solidarity Package, unveiled on 13 March 2020.

The Bank quickly rolled out investments and disbursements to clients and countries suffering from the economic shock of the crisis, committing all activity in 2020-21, worth €21 billion, to help our regions counter the economic impact of the pandemic. It adapted and scaled up existing instruments and developed new initiatives to provide finance, and rapid advisory and policy support to help businesses and governments combat the economic and societal implications of the virus. In an era of considerable policy uncertainty, the EBRD provided governments with high-quality, straightforward, and usable policy advice.

 

Solidarity Package

The EBRD’s agility and flexibility were ongoing features of our response, in solidarity with our countries of operation. We continue to work closely with all our partners to develop new initiatives that meet the evolving needs of clients and countries, including across equity, local currency, and capital markets offers.

  • Our Resilience Framework streamlined the process for providing finance to meet the short-term liquidity and working capital needs of existing clients. (Existing clients were understood as partners who have an outstanding EBRD loan or equity investment - or who have repaid or exited since 1 January 2019.)
  • We expanded financing under our Trade Facilitation Programme, keeping open the channels of commerce.
  • We offered fast track restructuring for distressed clients.
  • We enhanced established frameworks that can reach out especially to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and corporates that are not yet our clients, making the real economy more resilient.

The Vital Infrastructure Support Programme helped meet essential infrastructure requirements, including financing for working capital, stabilisation and essential public investment.

 

The emergency channels targeted all sectors of the economy, but especially those badly affected by the crisis, including financial institutions, SMEs and corporate sectors such as automotive and transport providers, agribusiness, and medical supplies.

While adapting our business, the Bank did not compromise on the standards on which our impact and reputation rest. The EBRD continued to subject its projects to all normal requirements, while maintaining our high standards of accountability. Transition impact, sound banking and additionality remain the EBRD’s key operating principles.