The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will continue scaling up support for economies affected by conflict, including Ukraine and countries across the Middle East, as global instability, trade disruptions and geopolitical tensions create new challenges for development, EBRD president Odile Renaud-Basso said on June 5.

Addressing the bank's annual meeting in Riga, Renaud-Basso said helping countries respond to conflict and economic crises remained the institution's foremost priority, pointing to the EBRD's role in Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion and its plans to support economies affected by turmoil in the Middle East.

"When other lenders pull back, we scale up, as we have done in Ukraine," she said. "While safeguarding our financial strengths and carefully managing risk, we continue to invest."

The EBRD plans to support economic activity in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and the West Bank and Gaza, as well as neighbouring countries affected by conflict. The bank will provide liquidity to businesses and state-owned enterprises and help stabilise financial sectors, while laying the foundations for long-term recovery and growth.

The approach mirrors its work in Ukraine, which Renaud-Basso described as remaining "at the core of what we do".

"We are its number one institutional investor," she said. The EBRD has deployed €10bn in Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion, helping nearly 50,000 firms affected by the war and supporting energy security and infrastructure projects that have benefited more than 22mn Ukrainians.

"We will be at the forefront of international efforts to rebuild the country when the time comes," she said. "And it will."

Renaud-Basso warned that the world had entered a period of heightened turbulence, citing energy market disruptions, rising inflation and interest rates, tightening government finances and the growing impact of artificial intelligence.

"This one started in the energy sector but is already hurting the global economy," she said of the latest shock affecting international markets. "Its scale, scope and speed underline how volatile our world has become."

She also stressed the importance of international cooperation at a time when development aid is declining and sovereign debt burdens are increasing. The bank recently launched its first significant risk-transfer transaction, allowing it to share investments and risks with institutional investors such as pension funds and insurers.

Looking beyond immediate crises, Renaud-Basso highlighted opportunities in Central Asia and the Caucasus, particularly through the Middle Corridor trade route linking Asia and Europe, as well as investments in renewable energy, digitalisation and supply-chain diversification.