Andi Aranitasi has been appointed director and head of the representative office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Uzbekistan. He will take up his duties on September 1, the bank's press service reports.

Andi Aranitasi, an Albanian and British citizen, has over 25 years of experience in banking, manufacturing, telecommunications, agriculture, real estate, tourism and energy. Prior to his assignment to Uzbekistan, he served as the EBRD Representative in North Macedonia.

He replaced Alkis Drakinos, who has led the EBRD's operations in Uzbekistan since resuming cooperation with the country in 2017 and was appointed regional head of the EBRD's Caucasus office in Tbilisi.

To date, the EBRD has invested over €4.37 billion in 144 projects in the Uzbek economy. For the third year in a row, Uzbekistan has been the leader in Central Asia in terms of receiving bank financing.