Zsuzsanna Hargitai has been appointed new Managing Director, Central Asia for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). In this role she will oversee the Bank’s operations in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, a vast and diverse region where the EBRD has invested US$ 16.5 billion (€13.7 billion) through almost 890 projects to date.

In her new role, Ms Hargitai, who is currently EBRD Regional Director for the Western Balkans and Head of Serbia, will be based primarily in Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, and is expected to assume her new position on 17 May 2021. She will also work from the Bank’s Resident Office in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.

Ms Hargitai said: “I am very excited about this opportunity to further strengthen and intensify the EBRD’s activities in this strategically important part of the world. Central Asia holds so much promise and its role is only bound to grow in the coming years. From private sector support to the greening of the local economies, from closing the infrastructure gap, including digitalisation, to promoting economic inclusion, the EBRD has significant contributions to make to successfully tackling the challenges ahead.”

A Hungarian national, Zsuzsanna Hargitai has been managing the EBRD’s activities in a number of countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Hungary and Croatia. She also held senior managerial positions at the Bank’s Headquarters in London, before becoming Regional Director for the Western Balkans in 2018, where she oversaw new record levels of investment.

As EBRD Managing Director for Central Asia, Ms Hargitai is succeeding André Küüsvek, who was appointed President of the Nordic Investment Bank earlier this year.