Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 27 September (BelTA) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) hopes to expand cooperation with Belarus, Francis Delaey, Head of the EBRD Office in Belarus, said after the signing ceremony of the credit agreements with Belinvestbank on 27 September, BelTA has learned.

“Using cooperation with Belinvestbank as a model, we hope to expand our operations in Belarus. I would like to thank the Belarusian authorities for great cooperation,” noted Francis Delaey.

In his words, taking into account the agreements signed on 27 September the volume of the EBRD operations with Belinvestbank reached €60 million. “Thus, Belinvestbank has become our second biggest client in Belarus. The fact that we could achieve it on the back of the complicated macroeconomic situation reflects our trust in Belinvestbank and makes an example of our active cooperation with the Belarusian authorities,” Francis Delaey said. He added that the progress reached by the EBRD in the work with Belinvestbank is important not only for the Belarusian bank and the companies it will be able to support with the EBRD assistance, but also to overall cooperation with Belarus.

“Our cooperation with Belinvestbank became an important factor that would help us expand our potential in Belarus as part of the bank’s new country strategy adopted earlier this month,” Francis Delaey said.

On 27 September 2016 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Belinvestbank signed two new credit agreements: a €8 million credit agreement as part of the Belarus Sustainable Energy Finance Facility (BelSEFF) and a €2 million loan under the EBRD’s Women in Business program.