Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) held its 52nd annual Joint Meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus

Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) held its 52nd annual Joint Meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus

PARIS, 19-Jun-2017 — /EuropaWire/ — The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) held its 52^nd annual Joint Meeting in Nicosia on 16 June, at the invitation of the Cypriot government. The event brought together the members of the Bank’s Governing Board, Administrative Council and senior management.

The President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Nikos Anastasiades, in his opening address underlined the close and long-standing relationship between Cyprus and the CEB. Also speaking at the meeting were Mr Dominique Lamiot, Chairman of the CEB’s Governing Board, Mr Joseph Licari, Chairman of the CEB’s Administrative Council, and Mr Rolf Wenzel, Governor of the CEB. A statement from the Council of Europe Director General of Democracy, Ms Snezana Samardzić-Marković, was also read out.

President Anastasiades said that the CEB and Cyprus had a solid partnership and that over the years the Bank had helped Cyprus to tackle several social challenges. He stressed that the CEB could play an important role providing support for infrastructure projects in the event of a reunification of the island.

Governor Wenzel briefed the members of the Governing Board and Administrative Council on recent developments relating to the Bank’s financial and lending activity and said that current developments in Europe kept reminding us of how important our work as a social development bank was. “By helping our member countries to address head-on the issues affecting vulnerable population groups, we make our own contribution to promoting inclusive growth and reinforcing social cohesion in Europe,” he stressed.

In the afternoon, the CEB’s 303^rd Administrative Council meeting and 217^th Governing Board meeting were held. The Governing Board re-elected Ambassador Miroslav Papa from Croatia as Deputy Chair of the Board. The Administrative Council approved ten new social projects worth a total of € 810 million and discussed strategic and policy issues.

On Saturday, 17 June, Joint Meeting participants visited projects financed by the CEB in the field of education, namely the University of Cyprus in Nicosia and a primary school in Limassol.

At the University of Cyprus, Governor Wenzel and the University Rector, Professor Constantinos Christofides, in the presence of the Minister of Finance Mr Harris Georgiades, signed an agreement for the first disbursement of a € 32 million CEB loan to support the extension of the University’s Athalassa campus.

Set up in 1956, the CEB (Council of Europe Development Bank) has 41 member states. Twenty-two Central, Eastern and South Eastern European countries, forming the Bank’s target countries, are listed among the member states. As a major instrument of the policy of solidarity in Europe, the Bank finances social projects by making available resources raised in conditions reflecting the quality of its rating (Aa1 with Moody’s, outlook stable, AA+ with Standard & Poor’s, outlook stable and AA+ with Fitch Ratings, outlook stable). It thus grants loans to its member states, and to financial institutions and local authorities in its member states for the financing of projects in the social sector, in accordance with its Articles of Agreement.

SOURCE:  The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB)