Eastern Europe and Central Asia

From legislative strengthening assistance in Ukraine and Armenia to governance reform in Serbia and Romania, we have led and supported good governance initiatives since 1996, helping numerous institutions across the region become effective public servants.

We have helped privatize agribusiness, make it competitive, and reform business policy in countries such as Croatia, Armenia, and Georgia, to create environments where agriculture and other businesses can thrive. In Armenia, for example, we assisted more than 500 small and medium-sized enterprises to build market linkages that increased sales by more than $26 million and created almost 16,000 new jobs. We have also helped to modernize farming practices in Albania, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Since 1997, we have managed European Bank for Reconstruction and Development-financed projects to promote lending to small and medium-sized enterprise across the region, providing advice, training, and support on credit projects to more than 70 banks in 23 countries.

In Afghanistan, our work dates to 1976 and includes nearly 30 long- and short-term projects. We are now implementing seven major projects in the country for the U.S. Agency for International Development. Our enterprise development project, for example, has generated 100,000 jobs and leveraged $104 million in new investment; and our agricultural credit team, working with the Afghan agriculture ministry, has facilitated 11,500 loans to commercial farmers in 24 provinces.

Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Eastern Europe and Central Asia have undergone dramatic social, political, and economic change, in addition to devastating armed conflict, most recently in Afghanistan. We are proud of our development results in the face of this upheaval and are committed to building on this experience in the years to come.