Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 1 July, the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was held in the format of a video conference. The event was attended by Managers and Deputy Governors from 71 shareholders of the Bank, including 69 countries, the European Union and the European Investment Bank, as well as the Bank’s management and international experts.

The opening ceremony of the event was made by the leadership of the UK Treasury Rishi Sunak, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the EBRD Pascal Donohoe, EBRD President Odile-Renault Basso and other officials.

The agenda of the meeting included a discussion of the results of the Bank’s 30 years of activity, the results of measures taken to mitigate the global economic crisis caused by the pandemic, the prospects for introducing new financing instruments and mechanisms to support the private sector, as well as a number of financial and institutional issues.

The President of the EBRD announced the key areas of the Bank’s activities in the near future, including mitigating the economic consequences caused by the pandemic, expanding financing for small and medium-sized businesses, "green" investments and digitalization of the economies of the shareholder countries. It was emphasized that by 2025, half of the Bank’s investments will go to finance projects related to climate change. Also, special attention in the post-like period will be paid to measures to remove barriers to international trade and investment and restore disrupted supply chains and trade links.

The Republic of Uzbekistan was represented by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov, who is the Governor of the EBRD from Uzbekistan and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors of the EBRD.

During his speech, he noted the significant results achieved in the multifaceted cooperation of Uzbekistan with the EBRD: stimulating and supporting market reforms, developing the capital market, privatizing state-owned enterprises and commercial banks with a state share, reforming energy, transport and other industries.

It was noted that since the beginning of cooperation with Uzbekistan, the EBRD has invested in the country’s economy a total of more than 2.4 billion euros for the implementation of 97 projects, of which 48 are private sector projects.

It was emphasized that over the past three years, Uzbekistan was three times in the top 10 countries in terms of annual volumes of transactions with the EBRD, and following the results of five months of this year, it ranks first in terms of transactions among 40 countries. At the end of the first half of 2021, the Bank approved 8 projects for a total of US$382 million.

The steps taken by Uzbekistan to combat climate change were noted: a Resolution of the Head of State was adopted on the approval of the strategy for the transition to a "green" economy and relevant legislative acts aimed at supporting renewable energy and improving the energy efficiency of economic sectors, the General Plan for the Development of the Energy Sector until 2030 was approved, in accordance with which Uzbekistan plans to increase the total capacity of renewable energy sources to 8 GW, a long-term “Road Map” for decarbonization of the energy sector of Uzbekistan has been agreed, additional ways to deepen cooperation through the EBRD’s Green Cities program and a green economy financing mechanism are being considered.

Proposals were also put forward to further deepen the EBRD’s cooperation with member countries in the course of economic recovery in the post-period.

During their speeches, EBRD Governors from other countries outlined a common position, calling for the need to work together to combat the consequences of the pandemic, for enhancing the Bank’s role in the recovery of the economies of the EBRD member countries, as well as for strengthening the interaction of the Bank’s shareholders in this direction.

As a result of the meeting, a number of decisions were also adopted that determine the future prospects of the Bank’s activities. Thus, in particular, the Implementation Plan of the EBRD Strategy for 2021-2023 was approved. The initiative to expand the geography of the EBRD’s activities to some countries in Africa and the Middle East was supported. It was also announced that the next meeting of the Board of Governors of the EBRD in 2022 in Morocco and the election of the new Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Bank of the Governor from Portugal, the Minister of Finance of this country, Juan Leau, was announced.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was established on 28 March 1991. The headquarters are located in London. Uzbekistan has been a member of the EBRD since 30 April 1992.