EBRD President Rules Out Russian Withdrawal After Governors' Meeting

Russia's withdrawal from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is not on the table for the bank's board of governors, EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's Finance Ministry has stated that it intends to discuss the possibility of resuming EBRD work in the country during the bank's board meeting in May. The ministry also reportedly intended to stress that EBRD measures were in excess of the EU anti-Russian sanctions. Additionally, an EBRD source claimed in April that the Russian side could consider dumping its share in the bank unless the measures were eased.

"No one [is] talking about take money and go, no one suggest[s] that. We see a value of Russia as a shareholder," Chakrabarti told reporters when asked whether Russia could withdraw unless the bank resumed funding projects in the country.

The Russian market remains important for the bank due to the high quality of assets in its local investment portfolio as well as the access to the Central Asian region that its Moscow office offers, he added.

The EBRD's Russian assets, as well as its Turkish and Polish portfolios, were the highest yielding last year, according to Chakrabarti.

No changes are, however, expected to the bank's freeze on fresh investments in Russia, according to the president.

EBRD shareholders will gather on May 9-11 in Cyprus. Russia is among the 64 countries with shares in the bank. The majority of countries represented in the board of governors, however, backed a freeze on EBRD participation in Russian projects in 2014. The bank's Russian portfolio amounts to some 3.7 billion euros ($4 billion).