A meeting was held today with the members of the board of directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), who represent member states from Europe, America, Asia and Africa.

The representatives were welcomed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, the Minister of Finance, Labor and Transfers, Hekuran Murati, the Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, the EBRD Director for the Western Balkans, Matteo Colangeli, as well as representatives of the EBRD Office in Kosovo.

In his opening speech of the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi emphasized the impact of the EBRD on the realization of Kosovo's development objectives. Also, Bislimi mentioned some of the successes achieved by Kosovo, especially in the field of the rule of law and the fight against corruption.

Minister Murati emphasized the role of the EBRD in the implementation of projects that promote economic development, mentioning current projects such as those of energy transition, infrastructure and the environment. Minister Murati also emphasized the memorandum of understanding signed this year between the EBRD and the Government of Kosovo for the implementation of the EBRD strategy for Kosovo 2022-2027, where the objectives of this strategy are the development of the private sector, transport and digitization.

For her part, Minister Rizvanolli also emphasized that energy is a common priority of both parties and shared the objectives in this field, especially in the construction of new capacities, ensuring that energy prices remain affordable.

For his part, the Deputy Director of the EBRD, Jan Willem van den Wall Bake, on behalf of the board of directors of the EBRD, emphasized the willingness and readiness of the EBRD to deepen cooperation in the future, mentioning some of the EBRD's priorities for investments in Kosovo.