EBRD stops financing state projects in Belarus
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development / invest.gov.uz
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has suspended financing of projects in the Belarusian public sector.
"We call on Belarus to continue to fulfill all its international obligations. The EBRD continues to invest in private sector projects in Belarus, and we have not been lending to state projects for some time," a bank representative said in a comment to TUT.by.
According to him, the EBRD is not considering new projects in the country and is seeking to complete previously signed infrastructure deals.
In its resolution of September 17, the European Parliament called on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to stop operations with the public sector in Belarus. The Belarusian authorities felt the impact of this measure. On November 17, Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei said that official Minsk was suspending the dialogue with the European Union on human rights issues, and also reducing the level of participation in the EU's Eastern Partnership program. He called the unfreezing of the EBRD and EIB programs as a condition for resuming the dialogue.
The EBRD has been working with the Belarusian public sector since 2016, when European sanctions were lifted off the official Minsk. In 2019, the EBRD invested € 390 million in 24 projects. The largest project was a loan of 126 million euros for the reconstruction of 12 bridges.
