EBRD Seeks To Guide Ex-Soviet Bloc To Economic Recovery.

"The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) met Saturday to help guide crisis-hit Eastern Europe towards recovery and prevent a reversal of two decades of major economic reforms.... The bank had kicked off its two-day meeting Friday by revealing it would invest a record EUR7 billion into the embattled region by the end of this year. So far this year, it has ploughed a total of EUR2.3 billion, which is double the amount invested in the same period a year earlier...." [Agence France Presse (5/16)/Factiva]

The Observer adds that "...Eastern Europe's heady economic 'miracle' may never return, leaders from the region were warned this weekend.... EBRD President Thomas Mirow told ministers and central bankers that it would be 'unrealistic' to expect a repeat of the 'double-digit growth, record levels of investment and readily available finance', of recent years...." [The Observer (UK, 5/17)/Factiva]

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that "...calls on the EU for more direct help for its ailing eastern members and neighbors look futile and the bloc will likely continue to depend on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide the main safety net.... Bankers and policymakers at this weekend's meeting of the EBRD complained that the EU's executive body and the European Central Bank should be doing more to backstop the region. [Yet] little the EU and ECB have said...indicates willingness to take a more leading role.... 'IMF funds are not enough,' Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Hryhory Nemyria said in an interview bemoaning greater access to cash for EU members like Hungary.... " [Reuters (5/18)/Factiva]