The EBRD has appointed Irina Kravchenko as the new head of the bank’s operations in Mongolia.

Based in Ulaanbaatar, Kravchenko’s arrival coincides with the city joining the EBRD’s Green Cities programme. A memorandum of understanding paving the way for EBRD investments in areas such as green transport and safe water was recently signed by deputy mayor Batbayasgalan Jantsan and EBRD managing director for Central Asia and Russia, Natalia Khanjenkova.

Commenting on her appointment, Kravchenko says: “Mongolia, where we have invested US$1.6bn, is very important for the EBRD. We support projects which help diversify the country’s economy such as manufacturing, and the sustainable development of the natural resources sector, which accounts for almost all of the country’s exports. I am very pleased to be taking up this post as Ulaanbaatar becomes the first city in Asia to join our Green Cities programme.”

Kravchenko joined the EBRD in 1995 as a banker where she worked on projects in Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, central Asia and south-eastern Europe. In 2012, she was appointed to an associate director position as adviser to the managing director of the EBRD’s southern and eastern Mediterranean operations. During this time, she spent six months in Tunisia as acting head of office.

Prior to joining the EBRD, she worked at the National Bank of Ukraine.

Kravchenko replaces Matthieu Le Blan, who served in the role for the last three years.