MINSK, 4 March (BelTA) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to release a draft strategy for Belarus for 2016-2019 in April, Francis Delaey, head of the EBRD office in Belarus, told reporters before the launch of the Women in Business program, BelTA has learned.
“We are now developing a new program of cooperation with Belarus until 2019. In two weeks later, our Vice President will visit your country. During the visit he will meet with representatives of business, government and civil society. Approximately in April, we will post the draft strategy for Belarus on our website to discuss,” he said.
Francis Delaey stressed that the Board of Directors is expected to adopt this strategy in July 2016. “It is early to say what projects will be included in the strategy and how many of them there will be until our Board of Directors adopts an official position. But I would like to note that the number of projects and amount of funding do not depend on the strategy but on the quality of the proposed projects,” he stated.
Talking about the enhanced participation of the EBRD in the financing of projects of state organizations and enterprises, Francis Delaey said that the EU recommended that the Bank expand its presence in Belarus. “However, this decision is to be made by our shareholders, because not all of them represent the European Union. Therefore some specifics will be known only after the Board of Directors makes the official decision,” he said.
Francis Delaey also spoke about the Bank's participation in the project for reconstruction of Highway M10. “This is another project. It is a public-private partnership, and we are financing a private company. We have already agreed with the government and finalized the draft agreement for the project financing. I hope the agreement will be signed in two weeks, during the visit of the EBRD Vice President. We finance contract-consulting services, which will help prepare the final tender documents and launch the project,” he explained.
The official launch of the Women in Business program is held as part of the first Belarusian Entrepreneurship Week, which began on 29 February.
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