The World Bank in Europe and Central Asia

The World Bank’s regional strategy for Europe and Central Asia focuses on three priority areas:

• Boosting human capital to raise productivity, by investing in health care systems, improving skills, supporting the transition to new technologies, and investing in safety nets to protect poor households.
• Building solid foundations and resilience for growth, by deepening macroeconomic and financial stability, developing effective governance and institutions, and building capacity to adapt to evolving threats, such as climate change.
• Enabling markets to achieve high productivity in the private sector, by promoting entrepreneurship, competition, and innovation; facilitating access to new markets and technology; fostering regional economic integration; and participating in global value chains.

World Bank Assistance and Support

The World Bank approved $4.3 billion in lending to the region for 40 projects in fiscal year 2019, including $3.7 billion in IBRD loans and $583 million in IDA commitments. We also signed 22 Reimbursable Advisory Services agreements with eight countries for a total of $39 million. These agreements provided technical advice on issues such as public finance and fiscal reforms, urban planning and development, and strengthening education and skills for employment.

Results

We work with client countries to fight poverty and boost shared prosperity by helping them build more responsible institutions, increase private investment, improve service delivery, upgrade infrastructure, protect the environment, support human development, and empower marginalized groups.

In order to deliver integrated solutions that help countries address their development challenges, we regularly look at where we are achieving results and making an impact. By measuring and monitoring those results, we can then improve the way we support our clients and achieve better development outcomes.

Find out more about our results in Europe and Central Asia.

Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS)

Middle-income countries interested in highly specific knowledge services that exceed what the Bank can finance from its own resources are increasingly accessing Bank technical expertise using Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS).

Find out more about Reimbursable Advisory Services.

Analytical Work Highlights

In addition to its financial products and RASs, the Bank produces important research about critical issues in the region. Through its analytical work, the World Bank aims to bring global knowledge and adapt it to the needs of ECA countries.

Find out more about our publications and research on Europe and Central Asia.

European Union, European Commission, and other institutions

The World Bank’s ECA region has a strategic partnership with the European Union (EU), and is working with the European Commission (EC) and European international financial institutions (IFIs) to improve the capacity of ECA’s EU-member clients to absorb EU funds.

The Bank works closely together with EU institutions, European IFIs (European Investment Bank [EIB] and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development [EBRD]), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the second Vienna Initiative, which aims to improve banking systems and coordination among banking regulators in EU and non-EU countries.

The World Bank Group, the EBRD, and the EIB Group came together in November 2012 for a new Joint International Financial Institution (IFI) Action Plan. One of the most important priorities under the Action Plan was to ensure continued financing for SMEs that are key drivers of innovation and job creation in the region.

ECA works on Roma inclusion across the region in collaboration with various partners, including the European Commission, the Roma Education Fund, and a variety of national Roma agencies.

The Bank is also working with the EurAsian Economic Community’s (EURASEC) Anti-Crisis Fund and with the Eurasian Development Bank to provide parallel financing for low-income ECA countries.