EBRD_newspaper_May2017

A special edition for the EBRD AM www.intellinews.com May 9, 2017
bne IntelliNews Daily
Warming to energy efficiency p.4
Russia still out in the cold
p.6
Brussels exploits Nordstream
p.10
Counting the cost of air pollution p.11
A client leaves PrivatBank in Kyiv (AP Photo/Efrem Lukasky)
EBRD offers to help reduce state dominance of Ukraine's banking sector
Sergei Kuznetsov in Kyiv
The nationalisation of Ukraine’s biggest lender PrivatBank in December has dramat- ically changed the landscape of the country’s banking sector. After the takeover, state- owned banks control around 52% of the country's market, compared with around 26% in early 2015.
The latest developments have resulted in extra hurdles on the government's path towards a planned reduction of the state’s share in the banking sector. This mid-
Continues p.2 >
Bank readies its return to Uzbekistan
Kanat Shaku in Almaty
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has promised meaningful reform and has al- ready gone some way to disproving the scep- tics. Decrees protecting small businesses, a ban on child labour in cotton fields, the free- ing of a number of political prisoners, and recognition for Uzbekistan’s significant mi- grant population have encouraged those desiring change.
Against this backdrop, Sir Suma Chakra- barti, President of the EBRD, has pledged to restart the multilateral lender’s activities in the country. “The pause in that relationship is now over,” he declared at Westminster Inter- national University in Tashkent on March 17.
The EBRD froze its links with Uzbeki- stan for 10 years under dictator Islam Ka- rimov, who died last September after 25 years in power. The bank unsuccessfully attempted to pressure Karimov into im- prove his appalling human rights record and steadily wound down investments until it closed its representative office in 2007.
“We met with civil society NGOs and there was no doubt that Uzbekistan is tak- ing a slightly different approach,” Jonathan Charles, EBRD communications managing director, said after visiting the country with Chakrabarti in March. The bank aims to re- open its Uzbekistan office “as soon as pos- sible”, he added. “We certainly want to do it this year.”
The EBRD has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Uzbek government. The bank’s cumulative investments in Uz- bekistan to date amount to €906mn, though it currently only has an €8mn portfolio there.