EBRD Vice President and Managing Director will visit Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. "Mark Bowman and Matteo Patroneto start four-day trip to Caucasus on Monday," EBRD told the Accent.

According to EBRD, Vice President for Policy and Partnerships Mark Bowman will lead the EBRD delegation.

· Delegation to meet senior government officials, diplomatic community, partners and clients;

· Focus on renewables, sustainable infrastructure, financial resilience, and reforms;

· Bankhas invested more than €10 billion in over 650 projects in the region since 1992.

"European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Vice President for Policy and Partnerships Mark Bowman and Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Matteo Patronewill tour the Caucasus from 16 to 19January, first visitingArmenia, then Georgia, before concluding their trip in Azerbaijan.

The visit follows EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso’s recent tour of the Caucasus in September. The purpose of the trip is to discuss upcoming projects in both the private but also public sectors. Discussions on financial resilience, policy reform and the preparation for the Bank’s upcoming new country strategies are also on the agenda.

The delegation will first travel to Yerevan, where the EBRD representativeswill meet Armenia’s political leaders. The visit will include meetings withdiplomats, international development partners,leaders of the business community and the Bank’s existing partners.The team will also visit the Central Bank of Armenia to meet the Governor and his Deputy.

On the Georgian part of the trip, the delegationwill hold high-level meetings with Georgia’s political leadership.EBRD representatives will also meetdiplomats, regional heads of international financial institutions and the secretariat of the Investors’ Council of Georgia.

While in Tbilisi, Mr Bowmanis also expected tosign a sovereign loan agreement with the Ministry of Finance of Georgiaforthe rehabilitation and upgrade of up to 12 metro stations in the capital.

The delegation will conclude its trip in Baku, where EBRD representatives will meet Azerbaijan’s political leadership. The visit will include meetings with representatives of the diplomatic community, international development partners and the Bank’s existing business clients.The team will also visit the Central Bank of Azerbaijan.

Since the start of its operations in the Caucasus in 1992, the EBRD has invested more than €10 billion in over 650 projects in the region’s financial, corporate, infrastructure and energy sectors, with the majority of these investments in the private sector," EBRD said.