When it was set up in 1991, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was mandated to help former Soviet and former socialist countries open up to market-based economies. The goal is also reflected in our name — reconstruction and development after the damage inflicted by decades of rigid central planning.
Infrastructure is key to that reconstruction and development as well as to a transition towards a better economic future.
At the same time the widening infrastructure gap across the countries where we invest – now 36 including Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean region – highlights the need for improved project preparation, capacity-building expertise at the local level, and more private sector capital. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) provide opportunities for the private sector to play a constructive and expanded role.
Following the recent call from the G20 to support greater levels of infrastructure investment, the EBRD created an infrastructure project preparation facility (IPPF). The Bank mobilised €40 million, part of this amount in grant financing and part of it from private investors, to increase support for project preparation and delivery of improved infrastructure by both the public and private sectors.
With this newly created instrument, the EBRD plans to reach diverse sectors and countries across our region, with approximately 10 PPPs and some 20 'commercialised' public sector projects to be prepared over the next three years.
At the EBRD we believe that sharing knowledge of how to develop workable project structures is crucial for accelerating PPPs. We welcome the new PPP certification programme initiated by the World Bank Group and supported jointly by a number of MDBs during its implementation. The programme can strengthen the capacities of governments and markets to build credible and financially viable PPPs across emerging market countries.
Written by Thomas Maier, EBRD Managing Director for Infrastructure
