ContextEBRD President’s speech to the Bank’s 2026 Annual Meeting in Riga.
Why it mattersSets the bank's direction for countries hit by repeated crises, from war to energy shocks.
- Countries where the EBRD works face repeated crises.
- Investment needs are large.
- Resilience must be built.
- Build on the talent and commitment of these countries.
- Increase EBRD investment.
- Support reforms and private sector growth.
Read the speech summary
1. Riga and the Baltic lesson
Opening the EBRD's 2026 annual meeting at the Dailes Theatre in Riga, its President praised Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania as standout examples of the move to market economies and EU membership, with lively start-ups and heavy use of digital finance. Long dependent on Russian gas and power, the three states joined the EU electricity grid after the invasion of Ukraine and invested in renewables, turning a weakness into resilience.
2. A turbulent world
A new shock that began in energy now disrupts trade, lifts commodity prices, threatens food supply, pushes up inflation and interest rates and shrinks fiscal room, on top of the arrival of artificial intelligence. She described the world as moving from volatile to turbulent and set out three challenges for the bank.
3. Responding to conflict
Multilateral lenders step up when others retreat. In Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza and nearby economies, the bank will provide liquidity to private and state firms, stabilise finance and prepare recovery. Ukraine remains central: the EBRD is its largest institutional investor, with €10 billion invested since 2022, close to 50 000 firms supported and over 22 million people reached through energy and infrastructure projects, and it intends to lead reconstruction.
4. Defending cooperation
On her seventh wartime visit to Ukraine she saw the Chornobyl shelter, built through the largest joint nuclear safety effort the bank ever led, which now needs repairs after a Russian drone strike. With aid falling and sovereign debt rising, partnering with private investors matters more; the bank's first large risk transfer lets pension funds and insurers share its exposures, and revised procurement rules address concerns over supply chains, cyber risk and fair competition.
5. Keeping the long view
Turbulence also brings openings: the Middle Corridor linking Asia and Europe through Central Asia and the Caucasus, supply diversification that helps countries climb value chains, and abundant sun and wind. The five-year plan approved in London now guides green investment, human capital and gender equality, private capital mobilisation and digitalisation. The bank has begun investing in Iraq and in five African members, from Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire to Nigeria, Benin and Kenya, while the bank watches its budget and efficiency.
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