Catarina Bjorlin Hansen has been appointed EBRD Regional Director for the Caucasus.

She will assume her new role based in Tbilisi on April 1, 2019.

Catarina Hansen will replace Bruno Balvanera who has been named EBRD Managing Director for Central Asia.

The bank noted that in her new position, Catarina Bjorlin Hansen will lead the bank’s operations in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and help further develop their economies through investment, policy engagement, small business advice and support for reforms.

“I am delighted to return to the Caucasus as Regional Director and to take on this great task. This is a strategically important region with huge potential for further development. A key requirement for this will be its further integration into the global economy and the EBRD will continue to support this development with investment and reforms.

Working with the local EBRD teams, I look forward to making a tangible contribution to the success of these economies for the benefit of all,” Catarina Bjorlin Hansen said.

Catarina Hansen, a Swedish national, joined the EBRD in 2006 and was initially responsible for the bank’s municipal infrastructure activities in Central Asia, the Caucasus, Belarus and Moldova.

She holds an MSc in Development Finance from the School for Oriental and African Studies in London.

To date, the EBRD has invested over EUR 7.77 billion in the Caucasus through 564 projects.