YEREVAN, July 17. / ARKA /. The President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Sir Suma Chakrabarti will arrive on his first official visit to Armenia on 18 July, during his tour of the South Caucasus countries.

During the 2-day visit Mr. Suma is to meet with Armenia’s government officials, including President Serzh Sargsyan,  Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Minister of Economy and Armenia’s governor to EBRD, Vahram Avanesyan,  the Minister of Finance, Davit Sargsyan; the Mayor of Yerevan, Taron Markaryan; the Chairman of Central Bank, Artur Javadyan as well as the representatives of the local partner banks and businesses.

Sir Suma Chakrabarti's visit to Armenia coincides with the 20th anniversary since EBRD commenced its activities in Armenia which the Bank marks this year, with a press conference on Friday, 19th July at 17:30 at the Elite Plaza Building to be followed by a reception.

Suma Chakrabarti was elected EBRD president in 2012 and assumed his position on 3 July becoming the sixth President of the Bank. Earlier, Sir Suma held the post of Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice of the United Kingdom and before that he was holding the same post in the Ministry of International Development. He is a graduate of Oxford and Sussex universities and has worked in the British government from 1984 and was awarded the title of Knight of the Order of the British Empire.

The EBRD has been active in Armenia since 1993 and to date has invested over €656 million into 120 projects. Based on the current EBRD country strategy for Armenia approved in May 2012, the Bank’s key priorities are to develop the financial sector and improve access to finance especially for MSMEs, to improve municipal and transport infrastructure, to develop agribusiness and high value-added industrial companies and support sustainable energy and mining projects with high standards of environmental and social protection. In 2012, the EBRD signed 15 projects worth a total of €94 million in Armenia.-0-