EBRD launches inaugural Economic Governance Strategy
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched its inaugural Economic Governance Strategy, reaffirming its commitment to strengthening economic governance across the economies where it invests.
Under the EBRD’s Strategic and Capital Framework for 2026-30, economic governance is one of three priority areas for the Bank, alongside the transition to a green economy and human capital and equality of opportunity for all.
Economic governance lies at the very heart of the EBRD’s transition mandate, with the Bank consistently championing the principles of transparency, accountability and fair competition as essential pillars of open and prosperous market economies.
The strategy, which covers the period 2026-30, seeks to deepen the Bank’s impact by focusing on long-term, systemic change, fostering competitive business environments and well-governed public and private companies that support growth and innovation while mobilising domestic and foreign capital.
Melis Ekmen Tabojer, the EBRD’s Managing Director for Policy, Strategy and Delivery, said: “This strategy is designed to deliver tangible benefits across the economies where we operate. It will help governments to strengthen institutions, advance reforms and attract investment; it will support improvements to public-sector clients’ service delivery and cost recovery; and it will help private-sector clients to improve corporate governance, meet market standards and strengthen competitiveness.”
“Financial institutions will be in a better position to allocate capital effectively and build resilience; consumers will benefit from fairer and more competitive markets; and investors will gain from a more predictable business environment, expanded opportunities and reduced project risks.”
Three new operational elements will be introduced to support the delivery of the strategy. First, beginning in 2026, every investment and client engagement will undergo systematic screening to identify opportunities for meaningful economic governance reform. Second, Economic Governance Action Plans will translate identified reform potential into coherent, project-specific engagements, consolidating economic governance activities across transition qualities. Third, Sector Reform Roadmaps will establish structured, longer-term reform pathways in priority sectors and countries, aligning investment, policy engagement and capacity building through strategic sequencing across multiple operations within the same sector.
Operational delivery will be supported by a combination of reporting and targets, alongside a robust Performance and Impact Monitoring Framework that incorporates quantitative and qualitative metrics, while narrative insights will be published in the EBRD’s annual Impact Report.
Prior to the finalisation of the strategy, the Bank organised a public consultation, inviting stakeholders to provide comments and feedback on a draft version between 12 February and 28 March 2026.
The EBRD is owned by 77 countries, as well as the EU and the EIB. Since its establishment in 1991, the Bank has invested more than €220 billion in economies on three continents.
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EBRD holds its 2026 Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Riga
02.06.2026.18:00
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will host its 35th Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Riga this week, with the theme of “Volatile to versatile – economies innovating in a changing world”.
The event, which takes place on 5-7 June, will assemble the Bank’s shareholders, partners and clients, including government officials, financial and corporate executives, entrepreneurs, civil society and media from across its regions.
Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world, from geopolitical and macroeconomic pressures to the advent of artificial intelligence, the event will explore how the countries where the EBRD invests are adapting to new realities.
This is the second time Latvia will host the EBRD’s flagship annual gathering, with Riga previously welcoming participants in 2000. Holding the event in Latvia once again – one of the EBRD’s earliest countries of operation – reaffirms the region’s strategic relevance for the Bank.
Latvia’s President, Edgars Rinkēvičs, will address the Board of Governors’ opening session alongside European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity and Chair of the Board of Governors for 2025-26, Valdis Dombrovskis, and EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso.
The event will also welcome Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health (UNSGSA), as a special guest. In her role as UNSGSA, Her Majesty will address the importance of building financial systems that help all people meet their daily needs, strengthen their resilience, invest in their futures and build long-term prosperity and confidence – as well as the role that institutions such as the EBRD can play in supporting efforts to advance financial health.
This year’s meeting will see the EBRD’s Governors discuss the Bank’s role in supporting crisis- and conflict-affected economies, and the ways it can respond to ongoing global macroeconomic pressures.
At their plenary session on Saturday 6 June, they will be asked to reaffirm the EBRD’s strong support for Ukraine and endorse the Bank’s continued role at the forefront of international efforts to support the country’s wartime resilience and future reconstruction. The EBRD has deployed close to €10 billion in Ukraine’s real economy since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and is ready to step up investments once reconstruction begins.
Governors will also be asked to back the Bank’s broader response to conflict and its new strategic focus on economic governance.
As well as the Annual Meeting’s institutional business, the Business Forum will hold a wide range of discussion panels on topics including the role of international financial institutions in a changing world, the skills of the future, technology and the space race, capital mobilisation and the energy transition.
A high-level event on Ukraine will see Ms Renaud-Basso, Mr Dombrovskis and Ukraine’s Minister of Finance, Serhii Marchenko, discuss the country’s reconstruction pathway and European future.
Anyone unable to attend the events in person will be able to follow via a livestream and on demand after the event.
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