16 May 2025
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) helps businesses and economies thrive. Through their financial investment, business services and involvement in high-level policy reform, they're well placed to promote entrepreneurship and change lives. Everything they do pursues the goal of advancing the transition to open, market economies, whilst fostering sustainable and inclusive growth.
Services they offer
Financial investment projects are at the heart of their operations. In addition they provide business advisory services and promote trade finance and loan syndications.
Where they work
They're active in more than 36 economies, from the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, to Central and Eastern Europe, to Central Asia.
Business sectors they work in
Their operations span a range of industries, from agribusiness to infrastructure to transport. Thanks to their Green Economy Transition approach they are world leaders in climate finance.
Other areas of activity
Economic expertise: Their team of economists provide expert regional analysis and forecasts.
Their political engagement: EBRD staff regularly work on policy reform with governments, business leaders and regional officials, helping shape policies and initiatives that create favourable economic conditions and improve lives.
Their values
A clearly defined set of standards governs all their work as they strive to develop a sound investment climate and promote environmentally and socially sound and sustainable development.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was established to help build a new, post-Cold War era in Central and Eastern Europe. It has since played a historic role and gained unique expertise in fostering change in the region - and beyond.
Commitment to entrepreneurship
The EBRD is committed to furthering progress towards ‘market-oriented economies and the promotion of private and entrepreneurial initiative’. This has been its guiding principle since its creation at the beginning of the 1990s and, new challenges and the welcoming of new countries to the EBRD world notwithstanding, will continue to be its mission in years to come.
The EBRD's unique mandate
Uniquely for a development bank, the EBRD has a political mandate in that it assists only those countries ‘committed to and applying the principles of multi-party democracy [and]pluralism’.
Safeguarding the environment and a commitment to sustainable energy are also central to the EBRD’s activity. A commitment to promote ‘environmentally sound and sustainable development’ was made explicit at its founding. More recently, its Green Economy Transition approach has made climate finance a key measure of the Bank’s performance. In 2017 such finance accounted for 43 per cent of its total annual investment.
The EBRD serves the interests of all its shareholders - 67 countries from five continents plus the European Union and the European Investment Bank - not just those countries which receive its investments (€9.7 billion in 2017).
We all stand to gain from the EBRD regions' closer and deeper integration into the global economy and their economies’ continued progress on their transition journeys.
