IFC appointed  new regional director for  South Caucasus

ArmInfo.IFC has appointed Ivana Fernandes Duarte as its new Regional Manager for the South Caucasus. Based in Tbilisi, she will be overseeing operations in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. 

According to the source, Ivana Fernandes Duarte succeeds Jan van  Bilsen, who was appointed as the IFC Country Manager in Western  Europe, and Jesper Kjaer, IFC's Head of Operations, Europe and  Central Asia, who has been the Acting Regional Manager for the past  few months.

Fernandes Duarte, a Slovak Republic national, is joining IFC with  over 20 years of experience in international finance. She has served  in various positions at the European Bank for Reconstruction and  Development and Citigroup. In those roles, she particularly focused  on private infrastructure development and financing as well as across  the sectors country management.  Prior to development finance, she  worked in investment banking with expertise in project finance and  emerging markets. 

Wiebke Schloemer, IFC Director, Europe and Central Asia, said: "The  role of IFC's new Regional Manager in the South Caucasus will be  vital as the countries tackle the unprecedented challenges triggered  by the COVID-19 pandemic. With Ivana's wealth of experience,  especially in the region, we anticipate building on our past  achievements in each of the countries to leverage the power of the  private sector."

Fernandes Duarte started her career in the Office of the Prime  Minister of Slovakia. She holds an MBA from the IESE Business School  in Barcelona, Spain, and a Master's in Economics from the University  of Economics in Slovakia. 

Fernandes Duarte, IFC's new Regional Manager for the South Caucasus,  said: "While the pandemic has set back growth prospects, the role of  the private sector in the recovery phase will be critical. In the  current situation, IFC's priority in the South Caucasus will be to  help with green, sustainable recovery, with an emphasis on addressing  climate change, digitalization, and capital markets development. We  also plan to get involved early on in the project-development cycle  to support reform efforts aimed at creating markets and investment  opportunities." 

It should be noted that over the past years IFC has been actively  supporting two main segments of the Armenian economy - the banking  sector and the energy complex. In the latter case, the corporation  financed in 2016 a project for the privatization of the Vorotan  hydropower complex, the reconstruction of the Yerevan TPP and a solar  power plant of industrial volumes Masrik Solar.