Mark Yannone - Arizona, District 3, 2004 Congressional Candidate, independent - click to return to home page
Issues - Foreign Aid - Foreign Aid Budget - EBRD - European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
EBRD President and the US Secretary of the Treasury

"I have ever deemed it fundamental for the United States never to take active part in the quarrels of Europe. Their political interests are entirely distinct from ours. Their mutual jealousies, their balance of power, their complicated alliances, their forms and principles of government, are all foreign to us. They are nations of eternal war."

Thomas Jefferson to President James Monroe, 11 June 1923
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was established in 1991 when communism was crumbling in central and eastern Europe and ex-soviet countries needed support to nurture a new private sector in a democratic environment. Today the EBRD uses the tools of investment to help build market economies and democracies in 27 countries from central Europe to central Asia.

The EBRD is the largest single investor in the region and mobilises significant foreign direct investment beyond its own financing. It is owned by 60 countries and two intergovernmental institutions. But despite its public sector shareholders, it invests mainly in private enterprises, usually together with commercial partners.

It provides project financing for banks, industries and businesses, both new ventures and investments in existing companies. It also works with publicly owned companies, to support privatisation, restructuring state-owned firms and improvement of municipal services. The Bank uses its close relationship with governments in the region to promote policies that will bolster the business environment.

The mandate of the EBRD stipulates that it must only work in countries that are committed to democratic principles. Respect for the environment is part of the strong corporate governance attached to all EBRD investments.

Every EBRD investment must:

Help move a country closer to a full market economy: the transition impact

Take risk that supports private investors and does not crowd them out

Apply sound banking principles

Through its investments, the EBRD promotes:

Structural and sectoral reforms

Competition, privatisation and entrepreneurship

Stronger financial institutions and legal systems

Infrastructure development needed to support the private sector

Adoption of strong corporate governance, including environmental sensitivity

Functioning as a catalyst of change, the EBRD:

Promotes co-financing and foreign direct investment

Mobilises domestic capital

Provides technical assistance

Find out more about the EBRD by clicking HERE

Return to the Foreign Aid/Affairs/Defense budget by clicking HERE
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