Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Väyrynen to chair the EBRD Annual Meeting in Kazan

Press release 91/2007
18 May 2007

Paavo Väyrynen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, will travel to Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan in Russia, on 20–21 May. He will chair the 16th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). German Gref, Minister of Economics and Trade, and Aleksei Kudrin, Minister of Finance, are expected to represent the host country, Russia.

Among the most important issues to be decided this year is distribution of the bank’s accumulated profits.

As chairman of the meeting, Minister Väyrynen will also have the opportunity for informal talks with the Russian leaders present and with EBRD President Jean Lemierre. Issues pertaining to investments and energy are expected to come up during these talks.

The EBRD was established in 1991 to support Central and Eastern European countries and the former Soviet Union in their transition to democracy and open market economy. Its members are 61 countries, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The EBRD is implementing projects in 29 countries. It is the most important financier in its operational sphere (4.9 billion euros in 2006). The Board of Governors is the bank’s highest decision-making organ.

Finland’s delegation includes representatives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of the Environment.

Additional information: Petri Salo, Head of the Unit of Cooperation with Neighbouring Areas, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, mobile tel. +358 40 568 7932; Pirjo-Liisa Heikkilä, Press Attaché to the Minister, mobile tel. +358 40 705 5623