Mirow: EBRD Receives Clear Support from Shareholders

The Annual Meeting and Business Forum of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) were successful, and during them, the Bank received a clear signal of support from shareholders for its activities, said EBRD Director Thomas Mirow at a press conference at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting and Business Forum of the EBRD.

During the meeting, held on May 14 and 15 in Zagreb, the main strategic goals were set, which include continuing to assist member countries in consolidating public finances, strengthening the resilience of their financial markets, and investing in the diversification and modernization of the corporate sector and small and medium-sized enterprises, Mirow stated. The EBRD will, as announced, continue to support economies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and will also invest in mitigating the effects of climate change as well as in developing the cost competitiveness of member countries. In the upcoming period, one of the EBRD’s important activities will be the continuation of investments in infrastructure modernization, especially inter-regional and in more remote areas, he added. As he emphasized, the increase in EBRD capital by 10 billion euros or by 50 percent, which was unanimously approved by shareholders, will enable the Bank to achieve its investment plans over the next six years and have effects as early as this year.

Zagreb, he says, was an excellently chosen location for holding the EBRD’s annual meeting, as it is located in Southeast Europe, which is in the spotlight given the events in Greece and the eurozone and their impact on the countries of the region. He assessed that the source of difficulties could be the branches of Greek banks in the region, but that no problems have been observed in this regard so far. The Annual Meeting and Business Forum of the EBRD were held yesterday and today in Zagreb and gathered around 2,500 participants from more than 60 countries. The Board of Governors made a decision to increase the EBRD’s capital, and a plan for the Bank’s investments over the next five years was also adopted. The Business Forum was held under the title “Building Sustainable Growth” and was dedicated to finding ways to support the region during the recovery period. Discussions within the forum focused on strengthening financial markets, ways in which companies can regain the interest of strategic and financial investors in the post-crisis period, and the role of the state in that process. One of the important topics was energy. The day before the start of the meeting, the Croatian Investment Forum was held, where Croatia presented its market and investment opportunities. (H)