Business news

MINSK, 12 September (BelTA) – OAO Belinvestbank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) intend to continue working to transform the public sector. The relevant agreement was reached as top Belinvestbank executives met with a delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors the other day, BelTA has learned.

The negotiations focused on cooperation in implementing a number of joint programs, including the pilot project for reorganizing the Gomel Oblast cereals company Gomelkhlebprom. Belinvestbank-EBRD cooperation on this project has improved the quality of management of the state-run company and its financial solvency. It is a new avenue of work for the Belarusian banking system in transforming the public sector, Belinvestbank representatives noted. The experience will be copied and spread to other companies, including companies, which are not Belinvestbank clients.

Representatives of Belinvestbank and the EBRD Board of Directors also discussed the implementation of the program designed to improve the Belarusian bank’s performance. Matters concerning global economy, the development of the Belarusian banking industry, the positioning of banks in the long run in view of digitalization processes were also discussed. Belinvestbank’s transformation in the last few years was reviewed.

Belinvestbank Chairman of the Board Andrei Brishtelev noted that the changes the bank has experienced, the financial results the bank has secured extend beyond the smooth work of Belinvestbank’s team. The changes represent the result of fruitful cooperation of independent consultants as well as EBRD specialists. Thanks to concerted trilateral work Belinvestbank has reemerged as a modern credit and finance institution with a unique system for corporate management and strategic planning, cutting-edge approaches to business vision, a modern IT system, and a team of goal-oriented professionals, the executive said.

It is the first time a delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors has come to Belarus since the bank adopted a new strategy for the country in 2016. During the four-day stay in the country members of the delegation are expected to meet with representatives of government agencies and get familiar with the projects the EBRD finances. The delegation visited Belinvestbank on the first day since the bank is the leading pre-privatization project the EBRD plays a major role in.

The public joint-stock company (OAO) Belinvestbank is a major Belarusian bank. It is in Belarus’ top six banks in terms of the volume of assets and the number of clients. Since 2015 the bank has been implementing an institutional development program to improve its effectiveness and commercialization with assistance of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The EBRD is an international bank, which facilitates the development of the private sector and entrepreneurship initiative in 38 economies on three continents. The EBRD shareholders include 67 countries, the European Union, and the European Investment Bank. The EBRD pours investments into creating competitive economies in its regions, including well-managed economies, environmentally conscious, sustainable, and multisectoral ones. Since the EBRD began working in Belarus in 1992, the bank has invested over €2 billion in 95 projects in various branches of the national economy.