EBRD has invested 1.1 billion Euros in Q1 2009

• Thomas Mirow, the chairman of the EBRD: We want to help Central and Eastern Europe

Ana Săbiescu

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested a record 1.1 billion Euros in Eastern and Central Europe economies, during Q1 2009.

EBRD"s investments have increased 64% YOY, and their goal was to mitigate the effects of the international crisis, according to a press release of the institution. During Q1 2008, the EBRD invested 678 million Euros in Eastern and Central Europe countries.

The EBRD has announced that it is ready to act to fight the effects of the international financial crisis, which is why it has scheduled investments worth 7 billion Euros for 2009, as against 5.1 billion Euros in 2008.

The chairman of the EBRD, Thomas Mirow, stated: "The EBRD is capable, eager and ready to help Eastern Europe in these times of crisis, as well as in the future. The investments that we made during the first months of 2009 prove our commitment".

The objective of the increase of the EBRD"s investments is to provide the necessary liquidity to finance the transition and economic development in a time where all other capital sources have disappeared, the bank"s report explains.

"Our strong results during the first quarter prove that we are on the right path to reaching our ambitious target", Thomas Mirow added.

The priority of the EBRD is to support the financial system and to provide the liquidity needed for the continued activity of the real economy, in particular for small and medium enterprises.

The EBRD is one of the major financial institutions to lend money to the Romania, together with the IMF, the European Commission and the World Bank, as part of a 20 billion Euros loan. In February, the EBRD, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank (BEI) have launched a 24.5 billion Euros investment program intended for funding the banking sector, to stimulate them to lend money to SMEs in the next two years.

To that end, the EBRD recently extended a 100 million Euros credit line to the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR), for funding SMEs, as well as a 150 million Euros to Petrom, which will allow the latter to meet the environmental and health standards.