The Chairman of the Management Board at EDB meets with the head of the EBRD

Almaty, 3 June 2015. Dmitry Pankin, Chairman of the Management Board at Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), met with Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

At the negotiations about possible cooperation the sides expressed their mutual interest in co-financing projects (primarily large infrastructure initiatives) in their member states. “Our banks have a positive experience of joint participation in the public-private partnership projects to build the Western High-Speed Diameter road and reconstruct Pulkovo Airport in Saint Petersburg,” Dmitry Pankin said. He proposed that the EBRD consider the possibility of providing joint loans on highly beneficial conditions for road construction and energy projects.

The sides also expressed their interest in the joint preparation and fulfilment of integration and trans-border projects, as well as cooperation in the Eurasian financial sector. In this context, Dmitry Pankin confirmed EDB’s readiness to expand cooperation with the EBRD in providing loans to second-tier banks in Armenia, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan for the subsequent financing of SMEs.

The EBRD expressed their interest in cooperation with EDB in the area of information and research and, in particular, in the preparation of joint reports.

The sides agreed that the exchange of information between the two international development banks is a promising area for cooperation. They also said that the two institutions had certain joint experience in research and the methodological organisation of project monitoring, as well as the monitoring of the environmental and social responsibility of banks, and in energy efficiency projects. Dmitry Pankin also said that EDB was interested in using the internal practices and procedures the EBRD had developed over years of its operations.

Both sides emphasised the importance of negotiations and agreed to continue to enhance cooperation in the areas of mutual interest and to sign a memorandum of understanding.

EDB Media Center:
+7 (727) 244 40 44 ext. 6147 (Almaty)
+7 (495) 645 04 45 ext. 2732 (Moscow)
e-mail: pressa@eabr.org