The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Thursday its investments nudged to a new record of 13.1 billion euro ($14.4 billion) in 2023 across 464 signed projects, with half of total financing related to the green economy.

Last year's tally stood 58 million euro above 2022 levels, the bank said, with 80% of those investments directed to the private sector.

Investments in 2023 include a record of more than 2 billion euro in Ukraine to keep supporting the country after Russia's invasion almost two years ago, and up to 1.5 billion euro in Turkey over the 2023-2024 period after a series of earthquakes in the country's south-eastern region.

Turkey is the single biggest recipient of EBRD funds.

"It is too early to provide detailed figures, but we will be back with very high positive financial results of around 2 billion euro," after a loss of 1.1 billion in 2022, EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso said during a news briefing.

The bank's results are expected to be announced in the spring, the statement added.

The EBRD focused last year on a 4-billion-euro capital increase that will enable the bank to double its Ukraine investments once reconstruction begins.

The increase, the third in the bank's history, will bring its capital base to 34 billion euros once it takes effect on Dec. 31, 2024.

Renaud-Basso added that the bank was in talks with insurers and the Ukraine government over war insurances to cover cargos in the Black Sea.

"We are working with donors to mobilize that," she added, without elaborating on which insurance companies were involved in the talks.

Ukraine, a major global grain grower and exporter, said on Monday it exported 15 million metric tons of cargo through its Black Sea shipping corridor, including 10 million tons of agricultural goods.

The bank is also working on "developing a war insurance mechanism for inland transport in Ukraine, because now the costs are very, very high", Renaud-Basso added.

She also said that the bank was "very active" in investments in Egypt and was closely monitoring any impact from the conflict in Gaza and attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Investments in Egypt should be aligned with the reform agenda under an International Monetary Fund programme so the EBRD was working with the private sector on 2024 priorities, she added.

 

($1 = 0.9113 euros) (Reporting by Jorgelina do Rosario; Editing by Karin Strohecker and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)