The head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) says he expects the international financial institution to invest more funds in Central Europe and the former Soviet republics.
Speaking on May 15 at the bank's annual meeting in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti said the bank is ready for more investments in the countries suffering the aftershocks of Russia's economic and financial crisis.
"What has been happening in the Russian economy has affected the Caucasus, but also Central Asia quite deeply, so I'd expect us to invest more," he said.
"I'd expect us to be investing more in Central Europe and the Baltics," Chakrabarti added.
But Chakrabarti ruled out new investments in Russia, saying, “We’ll have to see how the geopolitical situation develops before we could see whether we are going to be back in Russia with new projects.”
In July 2014, the EBRD froze new investments in Russia as part of Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.
