Opinions & Interviews

Pivovarsky: Belarus pursues ‘open door policy’ towards EBRD

Alexander Pivovarsky. An archive photo

MINSK, 10 February (BelTA) - Belarus has always adhered to the “open door policy” in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development,  Chief of Belarus Resident Office Alexander Pivovarsky said in an interview with the INT TV channel on 9 February, BelTA has learned.

Alexander Pivovarsky highlighted the great potential for further cooperation. The EBRD in Belarus can implement projects in almost any industry. “No one restricts us. The government is very welcoming to us,” Alexander Pivovarsky said, calling the policy towards the bank "an open door policy".

He described the cooperation with the Belarusian authorities as very effective. “When they promise us something, they always fulfill it. If they cannot, they honestly, openly say about it,” Alexander Pivovarsky stressed.

According to him, the EBRD shareholders would like the bank to increase its presence in Belarus. The chief of Belarus Resident Office called its credit history as excellent. “We have already invested about $3 billion in Belarus (since it joined the EBRD) and there have not been a single decommissioned project,” Alexander Pivovarsky noted.

Belarus has been a member of the EBRD since 1992 and owns 6002 shares (0.2% of the total). From 1992 to 2019 the EBRD has invested about €2.9 billion in the Belarusian economy. In 2019 the EBRD set a new record in its operation in Belarus: the bank invested over $433 million (€390 million) beating the 2018 record of €360 million. This placed Belarus ninth among the countries in terms of annual volume of EBRD operations in 2019. Egypt, Ukraine and Turkey received the most financial assistance from the bank.

The EBRD’s total annual investments in 2019 reached the record-high €10.1 billion which were used to support 452 projects (€9.5 billion in 2018).

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