EBRD’s investments in Turkey can reach 1.5 bln euros

ISTANBUL/LONDON

Investments in Turkey financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) can reach 1.5 billion euros ($1.76 billion) this year, a senior official of the bank has said.

“We have invested more than 1 billion euros [$1.17 billion] in various sectors, including manufacturing, banking and renewable energy in Turkey so far this year,” EBRD Acting President Jürgen Rigterink told Anadolu Agency ahead of yesterday’s annual meeting in London.

“I expect our investments to grow to reach levels around 1.3-1.5 billion euros at the end of the year,” he added, saying that Turkey will be the primary country the bank operates in.

The EBRD’s 7 billion-euro portfolio in Turkey is the largest among the 38 economies where the bank invests.

Since 2009, the EBRD has invested over 12 billion euros through more than 300 projects in Turkey.

The EBRD is embarking on a path to a sustainable and “majority green” future as it prepares to guide its regions to a robust recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, Rigterink said during the annual meeting yesterday.

He said the bank’s immediate priority was to help the economies where it invests to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19.

“We also have to move even faster towards a more resilient and more sustainable future,” he said, as the bank’s Board of Governors, which represents the bank’s 71 shareholders, prepared to review the EBRD’s strategy for the next five years.

Under the proposed new strategy, on which shareholders will decide today, the EBRD will accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. “Green finance will be the majority of our business by 2025,” Rigterink said.

The EBRD also aims to promote equality of opportunity through access to skills and employment, finance and entrepreneurship and support for women, young people and under-served communities, according to Rigterink.