By Cecilia Calatrava
The EBRD’s First Vice President and Head of Client Services Group, Jürgen Rigterink, is visiting Lithuania and Estonia from 15 to 17 March for high-level meetings with ministers, government officials, partner financial institutions and clients.
This is his first trip to the region since the EBRD announced an initial €2 billion(US$2.2billion) resilience package last week to support Ukraine and its neighbours. The package includes measures to help citizens, companies and countries affected by the war on Ukraine, including the Baltic countries.
Ahead of the trip, Mr Rigterink said: “This visit provides an opportunity for me to hear first-hand from the governments of Lithuania and Estonia and from EBRD clients about the impact that the war is having on these countries. It also allows me to assure our partners of our solid commitment to helping both countries in every way we can to overcome the huge challenges that they now face.”
The Bank’s Resilience and Livelihoods Framework will help in countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are directly affected by inflows of Ukrainian refugees. Women, children and the elderly make up the majority of displaced citizens, and municipal authorities face enormous challenges in managing the influx of people.
The EBRD had previously declared its unwavering support for Ukraine and its people, and condemned the aggression by Russia and Belarus.
To date, the Bank has invested almost €1.1 billion through 110 projects in Lithuania and €821 million through 102 projects in Estonia.
