The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has committed €702mn for new loan and equity investments in 20 projects in central and eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States in the three months ended March 31, an increase of 12% from 20 projects worth €624mn in the corresponding period in 2002.

New commitments were made across the region, including for the development of mortgage finance in <

  • xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Croatia and Romania, expansion of the residential property market in Poland, and enhancement of market competition in Russia’s steel market.

 

The EBRD’s profit after provisions for the three months was €22.3mn, compared with €117.7mn in the first quarter of last year, when exceptionally high profits had been achieved on the sale of share investments, an aspect of the bank’s portfolio that is inherently volatile and dependent on external market factors.

As at March 31, 2003 the bank had authorised capital of €20bn, paid-in capital and reserves of €5.7bn and cumulative provisions on its banking portfolio of €1.2bn.

Steven Kaempfer, vice-president, finance, says that the bank’s performance for the first three months of 2003 represents a solid start to the year, and the pipeline of potential new projects continues to be strong across the region.