OREANDA-NEWS. January 29, 2014. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has appointed Richard Jones as the new Head of Resident Office (RO) in Dushanbe, from which the EBRD is conducting its investments in Tajikistan.

Mr Jones replaces Ulf Hindstrom, who is taking up a senior appointment at the Bank’s Resident Office in Tbilisi.

The new Head of RO will hold introductory meetings with local authorities on 27-29 January, including meeting the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Mr Emomali Rakhmon, key government ministers and state committees.

This appointment coincides with the opening of the new EBRD office in the capital at 34 Rudaki Avenue in Tcell Plaza. The opening ceremony took place in Dushanbe on 27 January 2014.

The ceremony was followed by a presentation of the Bank’s annual Transition Report, which analyses the state of reforms in the EBRD region. EBRD Director for Central Asia Mr Masaru Honma, Senior Political Counsellor, Mr Mahir Babayev, and Senior Economist, Dr Agris Preimanis, also attended the presentation.

Richard Jones joined the EBRD in October 2003.

Following roles as adviser to the EU Executive Director and in the EBRD Energy Efficiency and Climate Change team, he joined the Donor Co-Financing team in 2008 and was appointed Director in 2009. Before joining the Bank, he worked in the UK civil service at HM Treasury and on secondment to the cabinet of Chris Patten, European Commissioner for External Relations. Previously he worked as a teacher in Harbin, China. Jones, who is a UK citizen, graduated from St Antony’s College, Oxford with an MPhil in Russian and East European Studies and from Trinity Hall, Cambridge with a BA in Modern and Medieval Languages (French and Russian).

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to live and work in Tajikistan for the next few years,” said Richard Jones. “The EBRD has a strong history here of working with the banking sector, entrepreneurs, and national and local authorities. On a personal level, my family and I really appreciate the friendliness of people in Dushanbe and after a month we are beginning to feel at home here.”

The EBRD has been present in Tajikistan since 1992. During this time, the Bank has concentrated on financial and private sector development, as well as agribusiness, energy and municipal infrastructure, transport, telecommunications and general industry.