The Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov assessed highly the role of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) for the countries in the region, especially the Bank’s strategic objectives for increasing the financing for infrastructure investment projects. The Minister said this at a meeting with the Bank’s President Dmitry Pankin at the Ministry of Finance which was the first one for both of them after the Russian financial expert assumed office in the summer of this year.   

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank is an international financial institutions of the founding countries of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. It was established by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine to support the economic development of the countries in the region.

The BSTDB is managed by a President, a Secretary General and three Vice Presidents whose term of office is four years. The positions are taken rotationally by member country representatives. Its activity is focused on the financing and promotion of regional projects in the public and private sector, as well as on encouraging the commercial activity among the shareholder countries. Bulgaria’s membership in the Bank enables its participation in the allocation of its financial resources, as well as in the selection of the specific projects and their implementation.

Bulgaria’s projects, as funded by the BSTDB since its foundation, amount to over EUR 341 million and recently the Bank has been more active in the country by financing private sector projects.