Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia held an online meeting with Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) today. Dignitaries spoke about the successful cooperation and avenues of future interaction between Georgia and EBRD.

The President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Odile Renault-Basso, will tour the Caucasus next week, from 12 to 16 September, to meet senior government officials and business clients and partners. She will first visit Azerbaijan, then Georgia, before finishing in Armenia.

This is her first in-person visit to the region since assuming office in late 2020.

Prior to her departure, the EBRD President held virtual meetings with a diverse group of Azerbaijani, Georgian and Armenian civil society representatives.

In Baku, in addition to important meetings, the EBRD President will sign the agreement for the Bank’s second Green City project in Azerbaijan and launch a joint project with AzPromo, the national investment promotion agency, aimed at stimulating the telecommunications, media and technology sector in the country.

In Tbilisi, Odile Renault-Basso will hold different meetings and sign loan agreements with long-standing partners in the financial and healthcare sectors.

The EBRD President will conclude her trip in Yerevan, where she will meet Armenia’s political leadership and the EBRD’s partners. Renaud-Basso will also visit the Centre for Creative Technologies (TUMO), where she will meet leaders of Armenia’s hi-tech sector, and attend celebrations for the 15th anniversary of the EBRD-supported Investment Council of Armenia.

“I am very much looking forward to visiting the Caucasus, where the Bank has achieved some remarkable results during its 30 years of operation. Despite its size, the region remains an important investment destination for us, one where we have already invested more than €10 billion,” said Renaud-Basso prior to her visit.

Find out more

Press release

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will enhance its advisory services in Georgia to support local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in digitalisation and access to capital markets during the COVID-19 crisis. Together with Team Europe, the EBRD aims to increase the resilience and agility of the private sector.

Backed by €1.8 million in EU funding, the EBRD will help local firms with their digital transformation to avoid interruptions to their operations because of the pandemic and rebuild their businesses with a focus on sustainable and green practices. The previous phase of funding supported strengthening the competitiveness of the country’s SME sector.

In parallel, the EBRD will assist the National Bank of Georgia with the design and implementation of support mechanisms facilitating access to capital markets – both debt and equity – for local corporates, including SMEs. Targeted support will enhance Georgian companies’ preparedness for capital markets, broaden their funding sources and help attract financing from domestic and international investors. Companies can receive tailor-made advisory services and technical support to improve their corporate governance, transparency and credit rating to source investments across capital markets.

The announcement follows the new EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso’s first visit to Georgia on 1 and 2 February.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Georgia. Since the start of its operations in the country, the Bank has invested more than €4.2 billion in 262 projects in the financial, corporate, infrastructure and energy sectors.

The news prepared in the framework of the EU project "EU NEIGHBOURS east".