Since the publication of the last issue of this journal, the EBRD has, through its Legal Transition Programme (LTP), continued to advocate legal reform in the countries where it invests. The underlying philosophy, promoted over the last three decades, is that “good laws make for good economies”. There have been many significant achievements over the last year, some of which are showcased in this issue of the Law in Transition journal.

In particular, the LTP has provided continued support to Ukraine, which is a key priority for the EBRD. Among other things, the Bank drew up a detailed concept, technical specifications and an implementation plan for an online small claims court, which were endorsed by Ukraine’s Supreme Court and High Council of Justice. The proposed platform aims to use guidance tools and digital access to the courts to help small and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine (including displaced businesses) to enforce payments and contracts. Meanwhile, in a different sector, the Bank also helped the Ukraine Geology Service to undertake the collection, processing and digitisation of approximately 6,000 geological documents. Sixty-five per cent of those scanned documents related to deposits that are expected to contain minerals on the EU’s list of critical raw materials – minerals that are needed for technologies driving the digital transition and the shift to green energy. In addition, the team supported the development of a dedicated online platform for that scanned geological information, helping to make it easily accessible to investors, reducing investors’ risks and preventing significant unnecessary costs. We expect Ukraine to remain a top priority for policy dialogue and technical cooperation on legal matters.

This is a special time for the EBRD, with the Bank likely to begin investing in a number of new countries, subject to fulfilment of the necessary legal requirements. In addition to Iraq, the Bank also plans to start operating in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal. Alongside investment in these countries, the Bank will also begin delivering policy advice and technical cooperation. This will, of course, include LTP services, which will be delivered in close collaboration with other EBRD units working on policy dialogue. The objective will be to help these countries to create a predictable, transparent and investor-friendly legal framework for business.

While we will doubtless face significant challenges in these new countries, we believe that many of the skills and lessons we have learned from economies where we currently operate will be transferable. One of those lessons, which is the theme of this issue of the Law in Transition journal, is about the need to forge strong partnerships in order to deliver reforms.

The stories in this journal showcase the various types of partnership that the LTP establishes through its work, using examples from the recent past. These range from partnerships with other international organisations (such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the International Development Law Organization and the World Trade Organization) to collaborations with donors, national authorities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private-sector organisations. One overarching message emerges from all of these stories: the impact of our technical cooperation programme is always much stronger when it involves collaboration with others. Our lawyers can achieve much more in partnership with others than they could if they worked in isolation. Over the years, they have developed strong relationships with partners, yielding substantial synergies and significant results.

One emblematic example of this approach is the first story in this issue, which is about railway sector reforms in the Western Balkans. This project involves investment by both the EBRD and the European Investment Bank, while the policy agenda is closely linked to the adoption of the EU’s acquis communautaire and entails coordination with EU delegations in the Western Balkans, as well as members of the Transport Community. The project also involves collaboration with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and Agence Française de Développement. In other words, this project has resulted in the establishment of a very wide and diverse network of relationships, which have pushed the reform agenda and further developed the railway sectors of the relevant countries. This is the type of multi-partner arrangement that boosts the Bank’s policy dialogue and achieves optimum results.

Other stories also contain valuable lessons, particularly on the need to have strong local stakeholders within national authorities who can champion the proposed reforms in the relevant jurisdiction. There is also a need to call on the immense expertise of the private sector and NGOs to deliver key messages. Lastly, those working on legal reforms need to convince donors to allocate funds to support deserving initiatives, since it is no secret that good projects require funding.

I hope that the stories in this journal will inspire others to enter into partnerships with relevant stakeholders and promote reforms, supporting progress towards the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in the EBRD regions and beyond.

Enjoy the issue!

United we stand

I am delighted to present the 2024 edition of the Law in Transition journal. This journal showcases the work of the EBRD’s Legal Transition Programme, which seeks to improve the legal framework for investment in the economies where the Bank operates. This year, the various articles highlight the “partnership” element of our work, since each of the EBRD’s success stories is a real team effort, involving other international organisations, donors, national authorities, NGOs and/or private-sector actors.

Each article demonstrates that a particular partnership has been instrumental in delivering outcomes and impact on the ground. The overarching lesson is that we need to establish strong relationships with key stakeholders in order to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. “United we stand, divided we fall,” as the saying goes.

In the first story, Pavle Djuric, Duncan Kernohan and Jelena Cirkovic explore the links between investment in Western Balkans railways and institutional and governance reforms in that sector. This story is an excellent illustration of the role that partnerships play in our work, showing how national and international development organisations are working with political entities at regional and national level to improve the railway sector in the Western Balkans.

The second article, by Eliza Niewiadomska and Michael Strauss, looks at how the EBRD and the World Trade Organization are working to promote open markets for public procurement in economies where the Bank operates – a win-win scenario that primarily benefits small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in those areas.

The next story, by Anar Aliyev, Nikolay Angelov and Marcel Schlobach, showcases an EBRD programme that is helping SMEs to make improvements in the area of ESG in partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and a number of banks in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

In the fourth article, Gian Piero Cigna explores the role of governance – the “G” in ESG. He argues that establishing appropriate governance is essential in order to realise ESG ambitions and prevent greenwashing, providing plenty of examples from recent practice.

The fifth story, by Veronica Bradautanu, Yulia Shapovalova and Patricia Zghibarta (with contributions from Lizaveta Trakhalina), looks at the EBRD’s efforts to improve law enforcement in Moldova, which have involved promoting mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism and enhancing the practices of enforcement officers. The key partners in this project have been Moldovan authorities, the International Development Law Organization, relevant private-sector actors and donor countries (namely, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and the United States of America).

In the next article, Catherine Bridge Zoller takes stock of two decades of cooperation between the EBRD and Serbia’s Bankruptcy Supervision Agency (BSA) – a partnership that has, in recent years, also involved the provision of advice on the BSA’s digital tools. That piece also contains an interview with Dragisa Petrovic, Director of the BSA.

Next, Paul Moffatt and Julia Anderson take us to Azerbaijan for a story showing how the country is using the internet to shape its future. The Bank has been working with the Azerbaijani authorities on an ambitious digitalisation programme encompassing both investment and technical cooperation.

The eighth article, by Vesselina Haralampieva and Divya Chawla (with additional input from Khalid Hamza and Solomiia Petryna), looks at the contribution that company boards and independent directors can make to the green transition process in the EBRD regions. It showcases the Bank’s collaboration with the Climate Governance Initiative and contains input from that organisation as well.

The last piece, by Milot Ahma and Liubov Skoryk (with contributions from Markus Renfert, Serhiy Savchuk and Neal Harm), highlights the EBRD’s efforts to promote factoring as an alternative source of finance for SMEs. It also reflects on the partnerships that the Bank has forged with professional associations promoting factoring, as well as the EBRD’s recent collaboration with Ukrainian authorities aimed at modernising the legal framework for factoring in that country.

We hope that, by sharing the EBRD’s experiences in this area, these stories will encourage policymakers, donors and other stakeholders working on legal reforms to come together and pool their efforts in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals.

As usual, all feedback on the journal is welcome.