The international donor community delivered indispensable support to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic with a contribution of almost half a billion euros to investments by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 2020.
Governments and bilateral and multinational donors joined forces by providing €489 million in grants and concessional finance to projects and activities by the Bank to build greener economies, boost small businesses, improve vital infrastructure and support its policy engagement and advisory services.
“We are grateful for such strong trust among our donors as we jointly respond to both the crisis and early efforts to build back better,” said Pierre Heilbronn, EBRD Vice President for Policy and Partnerships. “It is testimony to our successful business model and our ability to provide financial support and policy advice swiftly. Both were needed more than ever against the background of economic upheaval caused by the global pandemic.”
Donor funds are set to improve the everyday lives of millions of people in the Bank’s regions from Morocco to Mongolia and Albania to Uzbekistan. They include increased support for renewable sources of energy to mitigate the impact of climate change, strategic road links to connect people and provide new trade opportunities as well as innovative online training to boost small businesses.
The European Union was the largest donor to the EBRD’s work in 2020 and also provided an unfunded guarantee worth €100 million to the Bank. Greece, Switzerland and Sweden were the largest bilateral donors. In addition, the EBRD mobilised €75 million in contributions for the European Western Balkans Joint Fund and the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) Fund. Both funds are managed by the Bank and are also available to various other development finance institutions.
