OREANDA-NEWS. November 01, 2011. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has appointed Neil McKain to lead its Resident Office in Azerbaijan. Prior to taking up the position this week, Mr McKain was the head of the Bank’s representation in Turkmenistan, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

He takes over from Francis Delaey who after four years in Baku is taking up a new posting as the head of the EBRD’s Resident Office in the Belarussian capital, Minsk.

The EBRD has been working in Azerbaijan since the republic gained independence in 1991. Its focus is on helping to diversify the economy by supporting investment in sectors other than hydrocarbons, funding financial sector development and supporting small and medium sized enterprises. To date, the Bank has invested more than USD 1.6 billion across 115 projects in the country, almost two thirds of which represents funding to the private sector.