Ivana Duarte, new head of Baku office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), arrived in Baku to hold talks with Azerbaijani MPs, a source in the country’s government reported.
According to the source, Duarte was appointed head of the bank’s Baku office in August.
Duarte has been working in the EBRD since April 2004. Earlier, she worked in the London office of Citigroup.
As a senior banker, Duarte was involved in a number of transport projects in such countries as Albania, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Russia, Turkey, Morocco and Tajikistan, the message said.
Earlier, Neil McKain was the head of the bank’s Baku office. McKain has already been appointed ERBD director for Central Asia.
EBRD has allocated 2.5 billion euros to Azerbaijan for implementation of around 159 projects since 1992.
One of the main tasks of EBRD is to ensure a stable development of Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector by investing in the small and medium-sized private enterprises.
Azerbaijan is the largest recipient of EBRD funds in the South Caucasus, as well as one of the largest recipients of this organization’s funds in the CIS and Eastern Europe. (Trend/Business World Magazine)