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165-624: Initially focused on the countries of the former Eastern Bloc it expanded to support development in more than 30 countries from Central Europe to Central Asia. Similar to other multilateral development banks, the EBRD has members from all over the world (North America, Africa, Asia and Australia, see below), with the biggest single shareholder being the United States , but only lends regionally in its countries of operations. Headquartered in London ,

330-531: A " sovietization " of Central Europe. In addition to reparations, Stalin pushed for "war booty", which would permit the Soviet Union to directly seize property from conquered nations without quantitative or qualitative limitation. A clause was added permitting this to occur with some limitations. At first, the Soviets concealed their role in other Eastern Bloc politics, with the transformation appearing as

495-688: A "loophole" through which Eastern Bloc citizens could still move west. The 3.5 million East Germans that had left by 1961, called Republikflucht , totaled approximately 20% of the entire East German population. In August 1961, East Germany erected a barbed-wire barrier that would eventually be expanded through construction into the Berlin Wall , effectively closing the loophole. With virtually non-existent conventional emigration, more than 75% of those emigrating from Eastern Bloc countries between 1950 and 1990 did so under bilateral agreements for "ethnic migration". About 10% were refugee migrants under

660-460: A 2017 report alleged deficiencies in monitoring and mitigation measures that had been designed to lessen the environmental impact of dam projects financed by the EBRD, while, in March 2018, outdoor clothing label Patagonia helped launch The Dam Truth campaign, which directly requests international banks including the EBRD to "stop investing in the destruction of Europe's last wild rivers". In 2011,

825-434: A January 2014 report entitled "Fiscal Policy and Income Inequality" that stated that "Some taxes levied on wealth, especially on immovable property, are also an option for economies seeking more progressive taxation ... Property taxes are equitable and efficient, but underutilized in many economies ... There is considerable scope to exploit this tax more fully, both as a revenue source and as a redistributive instrument." At

990-953: A Member State if it is a state in Europe or a non-European member of the IMF . Institutions like the European Union and the EIB also participate in the bank operations. Since its foundation the EBRD has almost doubled in membership size. The latest accessions to the bank are countries located in Africa. The EBRD is a public bank, meaning that public institutions such as states are shareholders in those institutions. More precisely, public financial institutions are controlled major predominantly by public authorities (more than 50%) whereas in institutions with public participations, public authorities aren't majority shareholders. Public banks were particularly involved in

1155-610: A broader democratic basis in Poland. He stated that the new government's primary task would be to prepare elections. However, the 1946 Polish people's referendum (known as the "Three Times Yes" referendum) and the subsequent 1947 Polish parliamentary election did not meet democratic standards and were largely manipulated. The parties at Yalta further agreed that the countries of liberated Europe and former Axis satellites would be allowed to "create democratic institutions of their own choice", pursuant to "the right of all peoples to choose

1320-483: A broader focus of promoting market-liberalizing reforms through structural adjustment programs. This shift occurred without a formal renegotiation of the organization's charter or operational guidelines. The Ronald Reagan administration , in particular Treasury Secretary James Baker , his assistant secretary David Mulford and deputy assistant secretary Charles Dallara , pressured the IMF to attach market-liberal reforms to

1485-532: A central role in the management of balance of payments difficulties and international financial crises. Through a quota system, countries contribute funds to a pool from which countries can borrow if they experience balance of payments problems. The IMF works to stabilize and foster the economies of its member countries by its use of the fund, as well as other activities such as gathering and analyzing economic statistics and surveillance of its members' economies. The current managing director (MD) and chairperson of

1650-577: A death sentence and execution. A number of other high ranking Bulgarian officials were also jailed. Stalin and Hungarian leader Mátyás Rákosi met in Moscow to orchestrate a show trial of Rákosi opponent László Rajk , who was thereafter executed. The preservation of the Soviet bloc relied on maintaining a sense of ideological unity that would entrench Moscow's influence in Eastern Europe as well as

1815-419: A distance. In addition to emigration restrictions, civil society, defined as a domain of political action outside the party's state control, was not allowed to firmly take root, with the possible exception of Poland in the 1980s . While the institutional design of the communist systems were based on the rejection of rule of law, the legal infrastructure was not immune to change reflecting decaying ideology and

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1980-411: A greatly competitive, resilient and integrated market and is complemented by a good governance system conducted by a well-functioning state which has to be environmental friendly and inclusive. In Armenia , EBRD has been operating since 1986, investing over €2 billion in over 200 projects. More than 90% of these investments have been made in private enterprises. The bank's key areas of investment include

2145-482: A large-scale party programs to train personnel who would meet political requirements. Former members of the middle-class were officially discriminated against, though the state's need for their skills and certain opportunities to re-invent themselves as good Communist citizens did allow many to nonetheless achieve success. Communist regimes in the Eastern Bloc viewed marginal groups of opposition intellectuals as

2310-710: A late September 1947 meeting of all communist parties in Szklarska Poręba , Eastern Bloc communist parties were blamed for permitting even minor influence by non-communists in their respective countries during the run up to the Marshall Plan. In the former German capital Berlin, surrounded by Soviet-occupied Germany, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade on 24 June 1948, preventing food, materials and supplies from arriving in West Berlin . The blockade

2475-416: A majority voting power. At its beginning, the EBRD was owned by more than 40 members, in 2015 the number of countries owning it was 61. and as of March 2022, there were 71 countries as owners. The following presidents have served the EBRD to date (as of March 2022). To become a member of the bank, a country needs to fit the EBRD's Articles of Agreement. These Articles stipulate that a country can only become

2640-561: A modification of Western " bourgeois democracy ". As a young communist was told in East Germany, "it's got to look democratic, but we must have everything in our control". Stalin felt that socioeconomic transformation was indispensable to establish Soviet control, reflecting the Marxist–Leninist view that material bases, the distribution of the means of production, shaped social and political relations. The Soviet Union also co-opted

2805-527: A new green economy approach for 2021–2025 and adopted a target of becoming a majority green bank by 2025. It invested €3.2 billion in climate mitigation, climate adaptation and other activities related to environmental issues in 2020. Moreover, the EBRD signed up to the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles which represent the world’s first global guiding framework for banks, insurers, and investors to invest in

2970-487: A position of oversight of only exchange rates, their function became one of surveillance of the overall macroeconomic performance of member countries. Their role became a lot more active because the IMF now manages economic policy rather than just exchange rates. In addition, the IMF negotiates conditions on lending and loans under their policy of conditionality , which was established in the 1950s. Low-income countries can borrow on concessional terms , which means there

3135-419: A potential threat because of the bases underlying Communist power therein. The suppression of dissidence and opposition was considered a central prerequisite to retain power, though the enormous expense at which the population in certain countries were kept under secret surveillance may not have been rational. Following a totalitarian initial phase, a post-totalitarian period followed the death of Stalin in which

3300-408: A public relations campaign against the western policy change and communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948 preceding large losses therein, while 300,000 Berliners demonstrated and urged the international airlift to continue. In May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin. After disagreements between Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito and

3465-455: A rivalry regarding the status of the “EU’s premier development bank”. Major criticism about the EBRD in this situation is related to the fact that non-EU countries are also important shareholders whereas the EIB is completely owned by the EU. More recently, another source of rivalry was about becoming the new “European Climate and Sustainable Development Bank (ECSDB). More recently, since the start of

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3630-504: A three-tier structure composed of firstly, the president and the staff, secondly the Board of Governors and finally the Board of Directors . The bank’s structure has changed over time, because of concerns about competition within the institution. In fact, in the beginning of the 90s, there were two different banking divisions (on one side, the merchant banking related to the private sector and on

3795-570: A unified Soviet command structure. Beginning in 1964, Romania took a more independent course. While it did not repudiate either Comecon or the Warsaw Pact, it ceased to play a significant role in either. Nicolae Ceaușescu 's assumption of leadership one year later pushed Romania even further in the direction of separateness. Albania, which had become increasingly isolated under Stalinist leader Enver Hoxha following de-Stalinization , undergoing an Albanian–Soviet split in 1961, withdrew from

3960-564: A world of democracy and peace". While meeting with Stalin and Roosevelt in Tehran in 1943, Churchill stated that Britain was vitally interested in restoring Poland as a politically independent country. Britain did not press the matter for fear that it would become a source of inter-allied friction. In February 1945, at the conference at Yalta , Stalin demanded a Soviet sphere of political influence in Central Europe. Stalin eventually

4125-503: A year and is responsible for electing or appointing an executive director to the executive board. While the board of governors is officially responsible for approving quota increases, special drawing right allocations, the admittance of new members, compulsory withdrawal of members, and amendments to the Articles of Agreement and By-Laws, in practice it has delegated most of its powers to the IMF's executive board. The board of governors

4290-641: Is a major financial agency of the United Nations , and an international financial institution funded by 190 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of last resort to national governments, and a leading supporter of exchange-rate stability . Its stated mission is "working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade , promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around

4455-933: Is a period of time with no interest rates, through the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), the Standby Credit Facility (SCF) and the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF). Non-concessional loans, which include interest rates, are provided mainly through the Stand-By Arrangements (SBA), the Flexible Credit Line (FCL), the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL), and the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF provides emergency assistance via

4620-566: Is capped at 40% maximum. As a neoliberal institution, the EBRD participates in policy debates by publishing macroeconomic analysis as well as economic forecasts that are used by both governments and international financial institutions. More recently, other than its original lending role, the EBRD has played a mediating role in Europe, for instance in Moldova in 2013 and even in the Central Asian region (most notably in countries such as

4785-449: Is considered by many NGOs and watchdogs organizations as repressive and activists and journalists are regularly arrested on false charges and imprisoned. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) wrote in 2015, that "for more than a decade Azerbaijan has made shameless use of caviar diplomacy to charm European governments, its most important oil and gas clients". The EEC BankWatch warns that "Developing Shah Deniz stage 2 and

4950-521: Is notable that one of the main objectives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was to become a link between the European Union, its institutions and the countries it would focus on. As the recipients were previously centrally planned economies, the ERBD centered through its operations on working with the private sector, which was the principal target of central planning. Focusing on

5115-441: Is that private international capital markets function imperfectly and many countries have limited access to financial markets. Such market imperfections, together with balance-of-payments financing, provide the justification for official financing, without which many countries could only correct large external payment imbalances through measures with adverse economic consequences. The IMF provides alternate sources of financing such as

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5280-642: Is to be finally reviewed by the management. Later on, it is submitted to the Board of Directors for approval. After being signed for both parties, it becomes legally binding. It leads to the transfer of funds from the EBRD to the client which will in the future start to repay the bank’s loan. The EBRD is unique among development banks for two reasons. First, it was the first multilateral development bank to have an explicit environmental mandate in its charter (since 1995), and second, in that it will not finance thermal coal mining and coal-fired electricity generation due to their environmental impact. The following table shows

5445-520: The COVID-19 pandemic . This was in addition to the $ 50 billion fund it had announced two weeks earlier, of which $ 5 billion had already been requested by Iran . One day earlier on 11 March, the UK called to pledge £150 million to the IMF catastrophe relief fund. It came to light on 27 March that "more than 80 poor and middle-income countries" had sought a bailout due to the coronavirus. On 13 April 2020,

5610-612: The Cold War (1947–1991). These states followed the ideology of Marxism–Leninism , in opposition to the capitalist Western Bloc . The Eastern Bloc was often called the " Second World ", whereas the term " First World " referred to the Western Bloc and " Third World " referred to the non-aligned countries that were mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America but notably also included former pre-1948 Soviet ally Yugoslavia , which

5775-685: The Cold War limited the Fund's membership, with most countries in the Soviet sphere of influence not joining until 1970s and 1980s. The Bretton Woods exchange rate system prevailed until 1971 when the United States government suspended the convertibility of the US$ (and dollar reserves held by other governments) into gold. This is known as the Nixon Shock . The changes to the IMF articles of agreement reflecting these changes were ratified in 1976 by

5940-592: The Comecon in accordance with Stalin's desire to enforce Soviet domination of the lesser states of Central Europe and to mollify some states that had expressed interest in the Marshall Plan , and which were now, increasingly, cut off from their traditional markets and suppliers in Western Europe. The Comecon's role became ambiguous because Stalin preferred more direct links with other party chiefs than

6105-563: The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB). Located in London, the EBRD was intended at its beginning to focus on the switch from centrally planned economy to market based economy in the Central and Eastern European countries by investing in the private sector, mainly banks, industries and businesses, and by promoting policies that would favor them. It was created as a result of the end of

6270-661: The Derg / People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1974, and the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 until the Ogaden War in 1977. Although not Marxist–Leninist , leadership of Ba'athist Syria officially regarded the country as part of the Socialist Bloc and established a close economic, military alliance with the Soviet Union. Many states were accused by the Western Bloc of being in

6435-708: The Great Depression , countries sharply raised barriers to trade in an attempt to improve their failing economies. This led to the devaluation of national currencies and a decline in world trade. This breakdown in international monetary cooperation created a need for oversight. The representatives of 45 governments met at the Bretton Woods Conference in the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire , in

6600-494: The Jamaica Accords . Later in the 1970s, large commercial banks began lending to states because they were awash in cash deposited by oil exporters. The lending of the so-called money center banks led to the IMF changing its role in the 1980s after a world recession provoked a crisis that brought the IMF back into global financial governance. In the mid-1980s, the IMF shifted its narrow focus from currency stabilization to

6765-562: The Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility . Upon the founding of the IMF, its three primary functions were: The IMF's role was fundamentally altered by the floating exchange rates after 1971. It shifted to examining the economic policies of countries with IMF loan agreements to determine whether a shortage of capital was due to economic fluctuations or economic policy. The IMF also researched what types of government policy would ensure economic recovery. A particular concern of

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6930-705: The Republic of Mahabad (1946), as well as the Marxist–Leninist states straddling the Second and Third Worlds before the end of the Cold War: the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (from 1967), the People's Republic of the Congo (from 1969), the People's Republic of Benin , the People's Republic of Angola and People's Republic of Mozambique from 1975, the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada from 1979 to 1983,

7095-748: The Soviet Union by the 1960s. Even though Yugoslavia was a socialist country, it was not a member of the Comecon or the Warsaw Pact. Parting with the USSR in 1948, Yugoslavia did not belong to the East, but it also did not belong to the West because of its socialist system and its status as a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement . However, some sources consider Yugoslavia to be a member of

7260-695: The Soviet sphere of influence . Lithuania was added in a second secret protocol in September 1939. The Soviet Union had invaded the portions of eastern Poland assigned to it by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact two weeks after the German invasion of western Poland, followed by co-ordination with German forces in Poland. During the Occupation of East Poland by the Soviet Union , the Soviets liquidated

7425-646: The Soviets occupied the territories . In June 1941, Germany broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact by invading the Soviet Union . From the time of this invasion to 1944, the areas annexed by the Soviet Union were part of Germany's Ostland (except for the Moldavian SSR ). Thereafter, the Soviet Union began to push German forces westward through a series of battles on the Eastern Front . In

7590-830: The Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The executive board approved the SDDS and GDDS in 1996 and 1997, respectively, and subsequent amendments were published in a revised Guide to the General Data Dissemination System . The system is aimed primarily at statisticians and aims to improve many aspects of statistical systems in a country. It is also part of the World Bank Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and Poverty Reduction Strategic Papers (PRSPs) . The primary objective of

7755-675: The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) could amount to EUR 1.2 billion. Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc , also known as the Communist Bloc ( Combloc ), the Socialist Bloc , and the Soviet Bloc , was the collective term for an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe , Asia , Africa , and Latin America that were aligned with the Soviet Union and existed during

7920-681: The Warsaw Pact was formed partly in response to NATO 's inclusion of West Germany and partly because the Soviets needed an excuse to retain Red Army units in Hungary. For 35 years, the Pact perpetuated the Stalinist concept of Soviet national security based on imperial expansion and control over satellite regimes in Eastern Europe. This Soviet formalization of their security relationships in

8085-406: The first Greek bailout that totaled €110 billion, to address the great accumulation of public debt, caused by continuing large public sector deficits. As part of the bailout, the Greek government agreed to adopt austerity measures that would reduce the deficit from 11% in 2009 to "well below 3%" in 2014. The bailout did not include debt restructuring measures such as a haircut , to the chagrin of

8250-415: The 1930s . The IMF formally came into existence on 27 December 1945, when the first 29 countries ratified its Articles of Agreement. By the end of 1946 the IMF had grown to 39 members. On 1 March 1947, the IMF began its financial operations, and on 8 May France became the first country to borrow from it. The IMF was one of the key organizations of the international economic system; its design allowed

8415-428: The 1940s and 1950s, and the recruitment of staff exposed to new thinking in economics. The IMF provided two major lending packages in the early 2000s to Argentina (during the 1998–2002 Argentine great depression ) and Uruguay (after the 2002 Uruguay banking crisis ). However, by the mid-2000s, IMF lending was at its lowest share of world GDP since the 1970s. In May 2010, the IMF participated, in 3:11 proportion, in

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8580-432: The Bloc were instructed to foster intra-leadership conflict and to transmit information against each other. This accompanied a continuous stream of accusations of "nationalistic deviations", "insufficient appreciation of the USSR's role", links with Tito and "espionage for Yugoslavia". This resulted in the persecution of many major party cadres, including those in East Germany. The first country to experience this approach

8745-463: The Board of Governors. These members can not be on the Board of Governors. Its function is to direct the general operations of the bank, notably: The EBRD is composed of many members with voting powers, from European and non-European states to the membership of other institutions such as the European Investment Bank, however depending on the geographical location of each member, voting rights differ. More precisely, European and other creditor members hold

8910-409: The COVID-19 pandemic, public banks have had their influence and role increased as they have become important actors of the economic recovery response. As for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, it has committed €21 billion between 2020 and 2021 of activities. More precisely, its own package was established within the scope of the Resilience Framework, the Trade Facilitation Programme and

9075-412: The Code of Conduct in the IMF Articles of Agreement, and to provide national economic information. However, stricter rules were imposed on governments that applied to the IMF for funding. The countries that joined the IMF between 1945 and 1971 agreed to keep their exchange rates secured at rates that could be adjusted only to correct a "fundamental disequilibrium" in the balance of payments, and only with

9240-458: The Cold War because of particular issues regarding the international system in place, the historical and political context at the time. Furthermore, its recipient countries had to ensure that they would work towards "multi-party democracy and political pluralism" in which was considered as one of the main particularity of the EBRD distinguishing the latter from other financial institutions. Firstly, notably advocated by European political actors such as

9405-434: The Comecon's indirect sophistication; it played no significant role in the 1950s in economic planning. Initially, the Comecon served as cover for the Soviet taking of materials and equipment from the rest of the Eastern Bloc, but the balance changed when the Soviets became net subsidizers of the rest of the Bloc by the 1970s via an exchange of low cost raw materials in return for shoddily manufactured finished goods. In 1955,

9570-507: The EBRD 2020 Sustainability Report, donors provided €589 million to support EBRD activities, taking the form of grants, loans and risk-mitigating instruments. The EBRD funds come mainly from bilateral donors, from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), the European Union (EU), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). According to the EBRD, the bank provides different direct financial instruments such as loans, equity investments and guarantees. It also works on

9735-488: The EBRD activities. This has led to a reflection over the idea of winners and losers regarding globalisation. In contrast to the highlighted inclusion objective, concerns regarding inclusion, which notably involves gender equality, have been rather absent from the bank's attributions until recently. For instance, a Strategic Gender Initiative was validated by the EBRD President in 2013 as well as various projects involving gender equality related objectives. NGOs have criticised

9900-412: The EBRD approved a €65 million loan to ELEM, the Macedonian electricity utility, for a dam at Boskov Most . The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention requested immediate suspension of the project, with reference to the high biodiversity of the area and its importance as a core reproductive area for the Balkan lynx , one of the most endangered mammals on the planet. In January 2017, the bank cancelled

10065-438: The EBRD established a cross-departmental Human Rights Working Group and has developed internal human rights guidance. The EBRD provided €802 million of support under the Vital Infrastructure Support Programme launched in April 2020, an emergency support programme for infrastructure providers which is part of its overall Solidarity Package response to COVID-19 adopted on 13 March 2020. The package delivered emergency liquidity and

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10230-507: The EBRD invested more than €10 billion, both in 2019 and 2020. The EBRD has signed partnership agreements with Oxfam and Save the Children . In the 90s, the start of the EBRD actions have been considered as slow as the amount of money loaned was rather modest compared to what was available. There have been criticism regarding potential conflict of interest as it appeared that instead of focusing on public interests, some bankers' operations were influenced by their clients' needs, contrary to

10395-413: The EBRD is owned by 71 countries and two European Union institutions, the newest shareholder being Algeria since October 2021. Despite its public sector shareholders, it invests in private enterprises, together with commercial partners. The EBRD is not to be confused with the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is owned by EU member states and is used to support EU policy. EBRD is also distinct from

10560-399: The EBRD objectives, its lending policy regarding the public and private sectors, started and involved all the EU countries at the time, as well as various other European countries, non-European countries and representatives from the EU and the European Investment Bank . The Soviet Union was represented by its own delegation in the process and thus participated in the negotiations as well as

10725-484: The EBRD on the lack of progress the EBRD makes in its main mission, the “transition towards open and democratic market economies .” Inequality of the lending : most projects were related to the Visegrad countries that were the ones with the most developed private sectors meaning that the ERBD was underinvesting in the countries that were the most supposed to receive its participation. For instance, those countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland) were involved in 46% of

10890-453: The EBRD president from 2012 to 2020, has pushed in the beginning of the 2010s for modernizing the bank. Reforms encompassed the bank's structure in itself, for instance by changing the management team, and its processes (for instance about policy dialogue or methodology regarding the concept of transition) in order for them to be more efficient. Since the 2000s, the focus has shifted towards the issue over sustainable market economies, notably in

11055-581: The EBRD: a €300 million plan for promoting energy efficiency, and a $ 180 million loan to lease agricultural and forestry equipment. The bank stated that it will continue to manage ongoing projects in Russia. Despite denying Russia new funds, the EBRD continues to insist on its 6.1% of ownership in the Moscow Stock Exchange , seeking profits from Russia with the privatisation of the Soviet economy . Building Southern Gas Corridor , European countries and companies support gas export from Azerbaijan and contribute to finance Azerbaijan's government. The Aliyev regime

11220-429: The Eastern Bloc reflected Moscow's basic security policy principle that continued presence in East Central Europe was a foundation of its defense against the West. Through its institutional structures, the Pact also compensated in part for the absence of Joseph Stalin's personal leadership since his death in 1953. The Pact consolidated the other Bloc members' armies in which Soviet officers and security agents served under

11385-459: The Eastern Bloc when they were part of the Non-Aligned Movement . The most limited definition of the Eastern Bloc would only include the Warsaw Pact states and the Mongolian People's Republic as former satellite states most dominated by the Soviet Union. Cuba 's defiance of complete Soviet control was noteworthy enough that Cuba was sometimes excluded as a satellite state altogether, as it sometimes intervened in other Third World countries even when

11550-408: The Eastern Bloc, despite attempts by authorities to jam the airways. Under the state atheism of many Eastern Bloc nations, religion was actively suppressed. Since some of these states tied their ethnic heritage to their national churches, both the peoples and their churches were targeted by the Soviets. In 1949, the Soviet Union , Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia , Hungary, Poland, and Romania founded

11715-412: The Eastern Bloc. Others consider Yugoslavia not to be a member after it broke with Soviet policy in the 1948 Tito–Stalin split . In 1922, the Russian SFSR , the Ukrainian SSR , the Byelorussian SSR and the Transcaucasian SFSR approved the Treaty of Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, forming the Soviet Union . Soviet leader Joseph Stalin , who viewed

11880-863: The Eastern European countries into its sphere of influence by making reference to some cultural commonalities. Moscow-trained cadres were put into crucial power positions to fulfill orders regarding sociopolitical transformation. Elimination of the bourgeoisie 's social and financial power by expropriation of landed and industrial property was accorded absolute priority. These measures were publicly billed as "reforms" rather than socioeconomic transformations. Except for initially in Czechoslovakia, activities by political parties had to adhere to "Bloc politics", with parties eventually having to accept membership in an "antifascist bloc" obliging them to act only by mutual "consensus". The bloc system permitted

12045-724: The French President Mitterrand in 1989, the idea of creating this financial institution involving the European countries started before the fall of the Berlin Wall . The reception of this proposition was mitigated depending on the country, for instance it received hostility from the British whereas the French were important proponents of the project and influenced the process. In January 1990, negotiations about

12210-467: The GDDS is to encourage member countries to build a framework to improve data quality and statistical capacity building to evaluate statistical needs, set priorities in improving timeliness, transparency , reliability, and accessibility of financial and economic data. Some countries initially used the GDDS, but later upgraded to SDDS. Some entities that are not IMF members also contribute statistical data to

12375-762: The Geneva Convention of 1951. Most Soviets allowed to leave during this time period were ethnic Jews permitted to emigrate to Israel after a series of embarrassing defections in 1970 caused the Soviets to open very limited ethnic emigrations. The fall of the Iron Curtain was accompanied by a massive rise in European East-West migration. Famous Eastern Bloc defectors included Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva , who denounced Stalin after her 1967 defection. International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund ( IMF )

12540-411: The IMF in 1980 after losing the support of the then United States President Jimmy Carter and was replaced by the People's Republic of China . However, "Taiwan Province of China" is still listed in the official IMF indices. Poland withdrew in 1950—allegedly pressured by the Soviet Union —but returned in 1986. The former Czechoslovakia was expelled in 1954 for "failing to provide required data" and

12705-609: The IMF is Bulgarian economist Kristalina Georgieva , who has held the post since 1 October 2019. Indian-American economist Gita Gopinath , previously the chief economist, was appointed as first deputy managing director, effective 21 January 2022. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas was appointed chief economist on 24 January 2022. According to the IMF itself, it works to foster global growth and economic stability by providing policy advice and financing to its members. It also works with developing countries to help them achieve macroeconomic stability and reduce poverty. The rationale for this

12870-425: The IMF is part, are joint managers of this programme, which was approved by the executive directors of the IMF on 15 March 2012 for XDR 23.8 billion and saw private bondholders take a haircut of upwards of 50%. In the interval between May 2010 and February 2012 the private banks of Holland, France, and Germany reduced exposure to Greek debt from €122 billion to €66 billion. As of January 2012 ,

13035-564: The IMF said that it "would provide immediate debt relief to 25 member countries under its Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT)" programme. Not all member countries of the IMF are sovereign states, and therefore not all "member countries" of the IMF are members of the United Nations. Amidst "member countries" of the IMF that are not member states of the UN are non-sovereign areas with special jurisdictions that are officially under

13200-537: The IMF was to prevent financial crises, such as those in Mexico in 1982, Brazil in 1987, the 1997 Asian financial crisis , and the 1998 Russian financial crisis , from spreading and threatening the entire global financial and currency system. The challenge was to promote and implement a policy that reduced the frequency of crises among emerging market countries, especially the middle-income countries which are vulnerable to massive capital outflows. Rather than maintaining

13365-551: The IMF's agreement. Member countries of the IMF have access to information on the economic policies of all member countries, the opportunity to influence other members' economic policies, technical assistance in banking, fiscal affairs, and exchange matters, financial support in times of payment difficulties, and increased opportunities for trade and investment. The board of governors consists of one governor and one alternate governor for each member country. Each member country appoints its two governors. The Board normally meets once

13530-582: The Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan for instance) by intervening as a third party in commercial disputes which has become one of its major areas of activities. As a mediating actor, the EBRD has managed to involve other actors such as businesses and Chambers of Commerce among others. Moreover, a regional forum on commercial mediation was established by the bank as part of its work, which has managed to involve various representatives from countries in Europe and Asia, such as judges and experts for instance. It

13695-720: The Polish rejection of the Plan with a huge 5-year trade agreement, including $ 450 million in credit, 200,000 tons of grain, heavy machinery and factories. In July 1947, Stalin ordered these countries to pull out of the Paris Conference on the European Recovery Programme, which has been described as "the moment of truth" in the post- World War II division of Europe. Thereafter, Stalin sought stronger control over other Eastern Bloc countries, abandoning

13860-635: The Polish state, and a German-Soviet meeting addressed the future structure of the "Polish region". Soviet authorities immediately started a campaign of sovietization of the newly Soviet-annexed areas . Soviet authorities collectivized agriculture, and nationalized and redistributed private and state-owned Polish property. Initial Soviet occupations of the Baltic countries had occurred in mid-June 1940, when Soviet NKVD troops raided border posts in Lithuania , Estonia and Latvia , followed by

14025-489: The Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to members facing urgent balance-of-payments needs. The IMF is mandated to oversee the international monetary and financial system and monitor the economic and financial policies of its member countries. Accurate estimations require a degree of participatory surveillance. Market sizes and economic facts are estimated using member-state data, shared and verifiable by

14190-467: The Republic of North Macedonia abandoned plans for the road, redirecting the EBRD's funds to other infrastructure projects. Even though, its major objectives is to push for democracy and respect of human rights, the EBRD has been accused of not working towards those goals by not applying enough pressure and even "holding its annual meetings in dictator-run countries". Furthermore, reports have highlighted

14355-734: The Southern Gas Corridor is likely to cement further the oppressive structures of the Aliyev government". The EBRD has invested over 3 billion euros ($ 3.5 billion) in 177 projects in Azerbaijan. The EBRD approved three loans for the Shah Deniz gas field (US$ 200 million, US$ 250 million and US$ 100 million) as well as a US$ 500 million loan for the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), and stated its financial support to

14520-503: The Soviet Union as a "socialist island", stated that the Soviet Union must see that "the present capitalist encirclement is replaced by a socialist encirclement". In 1939, the USSR entered into the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany that contained a secret protocol that divided Romania, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland into German and Soviet spheres of influence. Eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Bessarabia in northern Romania were recognized as parts of

14685-417: The Soviet Union opposed this. Post-1991 usage of the term "Eastern Bloc" may be more limited in referring to the states forming the Warsaw Pact (1955–1991) and Mongolia (1924–1991), which are no longer communist states. Sometimes they are more generally referred to as "the countries of Eastern Europe under communism", excluding Mongolia, but including Yugoslavia and Albania which had both split with

14850-617: The Soviet Union regarding Greece and Albania , a Tito–Stalin split occurred, followed by Yugoslavia being expelled from the Cominform in June 1948 and a brief failed Soviet putsch in Belgrade. The split created two separate communist forces in Europe. A vehement campaign against Titoism was immediately started in the Eastern Bloc, describing agents of both the West and Tito in all places as engaging in subversive activity. Stalin ordered

15015-478: The Soviet Union to exercise domestic control indirectly. Crucial departments such as those responsible for personnel, general police, secret police and youth were strictly Communist run. Moscow cadres distinguished "progressive forces" from "reactionary elements" and rendered both powerless. Such procedures were repeated until Communists had gained unlimited power and only politicians who were unconditionally supportive of Soviet policy remained. In June 1947, after

15180-448: The Soviets had refused to negotiate a potential lightening of restrictions on German development, the United States announced the Marshall Plan , a comprehensive program of American assistance to all European countries wanting to participate, including the Soviet Union and those of Eastern Europe. The Soviets rejected the Plan and took a hard-line position against the United States and non-communist European nations. However, Czechoslovakia

15345-538: The Swiss, Brazilian, Indian, Russian, and Argentinian Directors of the IMF, with the Greek authorities themselves (at the time, PM George Papandreou and Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou ) ruling out a haircut. A second bailout package of more than €100 billion was agreed upon over the course of a few months from October 2011, during which time Papandreou was forced from office. The so-called Troika , of which

15510-512: The USA. Later on, because of dissensions on the political and economic objectives of the institution, the inclusion of the Soviet Union was threatened. Considered as short negotiations, the agreement (for reasons relating to the situation in Eastern Europe and to a wave of privatization across Europe) leading to its creation was signed on 29 May 1990 by actors such as 40 states as well as two European organizations and by March 1991 took its first effects as

15675-405: The United States, to discuss a framework for postwar international economic cooperation and how to rebuild Europe. There were two views on the role the IMF should assume as a global economic institution. American delegate Harry Dexter White foresaw an IMF that functioned more like a bank, making sure that borrowing states could repay their debts on time. Most of White's plan was incorporated into

15840-553: The Vital Infrastructure Support Programme etc. In 2020 alone, it has invested €11 billion as part of 411 projects which corresponds to a 10% raison compared to 2019. 72% of its investments were received by the private sector. Moreover, because of this specific context, the EBRD focused some of its operations in sectors other than green investment meaning that it only focused 29% of its investment in this domain (compared to 46% in 2019). According to

16005-734: The Warsaw Pact in 1968 following the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia . In 1917, Russia restricted emigration by instituting passport controls and forbidding the exit of belligerent nationals. In 1922, after the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR , both the Ukrainian SSR and the Russian SFSR issued general rules for travel that foreclosed virtually all departures, making legal emigration impossible. Border controls thereafter strengthened such that, by 1928, even illegal departure

16170-407: The West and Tito. Despite the initial institutional design of communism implemented by Joseph Stalin in the Eastern Bloc, subsequent development varied across countries. In satellite states, after peace treaties were initially concluded, opposition was essentially liquidated, fundamental steps towards socialism were enforced, and Kremlin leaders sought to strengthen control therein. Right from

16335-587: The aftermath of World War II on the Soviet-Finnish border , the parties signed another peace treaty ceding to the Soviet Union in 1944, followed by a Soviet annexation of roughly the same eastern Finnish territories as those of the prior interim peace treaty as part of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic . From 1943 to 1945, several conferences regarding Post-War Europe occurred that, in part, addressed

16500-457: The assistance of SMEs through the intermediary of other banks or investment and venture capital funds which are linked to the EBRD’s investments. Each project is analysed, first by the EBRD management with the negotiations and the subsequent signing of a mandate letter drafting the important information about the project plan, the expected expenses as well as the responsibilities. Secondly, the project

16665-407: The bank was inaugurated. The creation of the EBRD has led to the financing of various projects in the years following its first operations, for instance there were twenty projects in 1992 in which the EBRD provided financing worth ECU 2.1 billion. Divided between its headquarters located in London , and field offices located elsewhere, the European Bank for reconstruction and development is made of

16830-400: The bank, with total contributions amounting to €60 million. €5 million was donated by Russia in the same year of 2015. Not only involving the European institutions, the EBRD financed projects also implicate private actors such as firms as well as foreign investors in the process. As part of its lending policies, the EBRD mostly lends capital to the private sector as lending to the public sector

16995-441: The beginning of the negotiations that led to the creation of the EBRD, the question of democracy and human rights were included in the matter discussed. Those issues are clearly stated in the agreement. The EBRD is devoted to strengthen its approach to human-rights and also to gender-based issues. For instance, it posted a 14.8 percent year-on-year increase in the number of projects it supports that promote gender inclusion. Moreover,

17160-455: The beginning, Stalin directed systems that rejected Western institutional characteristics of market economies , capitalist parliamentary democracy (dubbed "bourgeois democracy" in Soviet parlance) and the rule of law subduing discretional intervention by the state. The resulting states aspired to total control of a political center backed by an extensive and active repressive apparatus, and a central role of Marxist–Leninist ideology. However,

17325-420: The consequences of these policies for other countries and for the global economy . For instance, The IMF played a significant role in individual countries, such as Armenia and Belarus, in providing financial support to achieve stabilization financing from 2009 to 2019. The maximum sustainable debt level of a polity, which is watched closely by the IMF, was defined in 2011 by IMF economists to be 120%. Indeed, it

17490-788: The contested projects are the Ombla power plant in Croatia , the Kumtor Gold Mine in Kyrgyzstan , and the Šoštanj lignite power plant in Slovenia . The EBRD's activities in the Balkans have attracted particular controversy and criticism, especially when they have centered on national parks or free-flowing rivers. This has often involved the completed or proposed construction of hydroelectric dams and road infrastructure. Indeed,

17655-409: The context of the financial crisis of 2007 which harshly impacted population and their trust in financial institutions, democracy and free market. As a result, a rethinking of the concept of transition has taken place within the EBRD and has impacted the activities of the bank. Furthermore, the concept of transition was reviewed in 2015. In fact, it led to the idea that the ideal market economy is made of

17820-470: The conversion of the Cominform into an instrument to monitor and control the internal affairs of other Eastern Bloc parties. He also briefly considered converting the Cominform into an instrument for sentencing high-ranking deviators, but dropped the idea as impractical. Instead, a move to weaken communist party leaders through conflict was started. Soviet cadres in communist party and state positions in

17985-462: The core of the system, with their names becoming synonymous with raw power and the threat of violent retribution should an individual become active against the State. Several state police and secret police organizations enforced communist party rule, including the following: The press in the communist period was an organ of the state, completely reliant on and subservient to the communist party. Before

18150-527: The countries aligned with the Soviet Union included Cuba from 1961 and for limited periods Nicaragua and Grenada . The term Eastern Bloc was often used interchangeably with the term Second World . This broadest usage of the term would include not only Maoist China and Cambodia , but also short-lived Soviet satellites such as the Second East Turkestan Republic (1944–1949), the People's Republic of Azerbaijan (1945–1946) and

18315-452: The country will be able to rectify its macroeconomic and structural imbalances. In the judgment of the IMF, the adoption by the member of certain corrective measures or policies will allow it to repay the IMF, thereby ensuring that the resources will be available to support other members. As of 2004 , borrowing countries have had a good track record for repaying credit extended under the IMF's regular lending facilities with full interest over

18480-594: The country's population who had accepted total obedience. Those who secured membership in this selective group received considerable rewards, such as access to special lower priced shops with a greater selection of high-quality domestic and/or foreign goods ( confections , alcohol , cigars , cameras , televisions , and the like), special schools, holiday facilities, homes, high-quality domestic and/or foreign-made furniture, works of art, pensions, permission to travel abroad, and official cars with distinct license plates so that police and others could identify these members from

18645-418: The detriment of others because they do not bear the full consequences of their actions—is mitigated through conditions rather than providing collateral; countries in need of IMF loans do not generally possess internationally valuable collateral anyway. Conditionality also reassures the IMF that the funds lent to them will be used for the purposes defined by the Articles of Agreement and provides safeguards that

18810-539: The development of investment volume into the Green Economy Transition (GET) approach, in support of the Paris climate goals. The EBRD had pledged, prior to 2015 Paris Agreement , to dedicate above 40 per cent of its financing to green investment by 2020. This goal was accomplished for the first time in 2017. With Russia actually being the biggest donor to an NDEP Support Fund for the environments inside

18975-438: The duration of the loan. This indicates that IMF lending does not impose a burden on creditor countries, as lending countries receive market-rate interest on most of their quota subscription, plus any of their own-currency subscriptions that are loaned out by the IMF, plus all of the reserve assets that they provide the IMF. The IMF was originally laid out as a part of the Bretton Woods system exchange agreement in 1944. During

19140-447: The economic transition of the former Soviet Republics and Central and Eastern European countries as private banks and other sources of financing didn't want to invest for reasons such as those countries’ macroeconomic difficulties as well as political reasons regarding the country’s stability for instance. In the context of the EU’s investment banking, the EBRD and the EIB have been involved in

19305-565: The end of March 2014, the IMF secured an $ 18 billion bailout fund for the provisional government of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity . In late 2019, the IMF estimated global growth in 2020 to reach 3.4%, but due to the coronavirus, in November 2020, it expected the global economy to shrink by 4.4%. In March 2020, Kristalina Georgieva announced that the IMF stood ready to mobilize $ 1 trillion as its response to

19470-560: The fact that an important part of the loans provided by the EBRD go to countries with authoritarian leaders as of the beginning of 2022, including states such as Belarus or Egypt among others, and this despite its major objective of promoting democracy. The EBRD announced on 23 July 2014 that it would suspend new investment projects in Russia, following an earlier declaration by the European Council . The European Council declaration

19635-455: The final acts adopted at Bretton Woods. British economist John Maynard Keynes , on the other hand, imagined that the IMF would be a cooperative fund upon which member states could draw to maintain economic activity and employment through periodic crises. This view suggested an IMF that helped governments and act as the United States government had during the New Deal to the great depression of

19800-527: The financial sector, SMEs, and sustainable infrastructure. They invest, engage in policy-making, and offer technical assistance in order to encourage these areas locally. The EBRD invests around €150 million in Armenia's economy every year. Its partner financial institutions lend approximately €100 million to local SMEs through a variety of programs that promote trade, green energy, and financial access. Gradually, climate change and sustainable development became

19965-435: The focus point of the European Union, then consequently found its importance as one of the main challenges that the EBRD has to tackle. It became linked to the objective of forming sustainable market economies. In 2021, Anastassia Obydenkova research has indicated that positive evolutions have been made, for instance that carbon emission from some of the states benefiting from EBRD loans have decreased. Source: The EBRD agreed

20130-495: The form of government under which they will live". The parties also agreed to help those countries form interim governments "pledged to the earliest possible establishment through free elections" and "facilitate where necessary the holding of such elections". At the beginning of the July–August 1945 Potsdam Conference after Germany's unconditional surrender, Stalin repeated previous promises to Churchill that he would refrain from

20295-422: The form of policy reform. If the conditions are not met, the funds are withheld. The concept of conditionality was introduced in a 1952 executive board decision and later incorporated into the Articles of Agreement. Conditionality is associated with economic theory as well as an enforcement mechanism for repayment. Stemming primarily from the work of Jacques Polak , the theoretical underpinning of conditionality

20460-503: The former believing Soviet leader Stalin to be a "devil"-like tyrant leading a vile system. When warned of potential domination by a Stalin dictatorship over part of Europe, Roosevelt responded with a statement summarizing his rationale for relations with Stalin: "I just have a hunch that Stalin is not that kind of a man. ... I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he won't try to annex anything and will work with me for

20625-544: The integration and modernisation process, as part of its projects, the EBRD has notably invested in important sectors such as telecommunications in the Central and Eastern European countries. Since the 90s, recipients of EBRD financing have diversified, in fact, from mainly targeting EEC countries, the bank has moved to the Asian continent and increasingly focused on other countries such as China. More generally, Suma Chakrabarti,

20790-544: The largest borrowers from the IMF in order were Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Romania, and Ukraine. On 25 March 2013, a €10 billion international bailout of Cyprus was agreed by the Troika , at the cost to the Cypriots of its agreement: to close the country's second-largest bank ; to impose a one-time bank deposit levy on Bank of Cyprus uninsured deposits. No insured deposit of €100k or less were to be affected under

20955-419: The late 1980s, Eastern Bloc radio and television organizations were state-owned, while print media was usually owned by political organizations, mostly by the local communist party. Youth newspapers and magazines were owned by youth organizations affiliated with communist parties. The control of the media was exercised directly by the communist party itself, and by state censorship, which was also controlled by

21120-581: The liquidation of state administrations and replacement by Soviet cadres. Elections for parliament and other offices were held with single candidates listed and the official results fabricated, purporting pro-Soviet candidates' approval by 92.8 percent of the voters in Estonia, 97.6 percent in Latvia, and 99.2 percent in Lithuania. The fraudulently installed "people's assemblies" immediately declared each of

21285-598: The loan saying the "conditions for disbursement were not met." Again in North Macedonia, the EBRD was criticised by environmentalists after plans were announced to bisect National Park Galičica in the UNESCO Ohrid-Prespa Transboundary Biosphere Reserve with an A3 express road, which would have required certain zones of protection in the national park to be downgraded. Scientists from North Macedonia and across

21450-403: The objective of the EBRD. According to an economist named Branko Milanović, the analysis of global distribution of incomes has shown that the positive globalisation impact has mainly favoured the super-rich part of the population, thus deepening the inequalities of wealth concentration within the population. Furthermore, this uneven concentration is notably visible in the countries benefiting from

21615-687: The ocean economy in a sustainable way. The EBRD also aims to support the corporate transition to decarbonisation , for instance in Poland (EV battery performance), in Turkey (elimination of plastics in single-use hygiene products), and in Ukraine (green supermarkets); and support green infrastructures. Linked to its objective of contributing to political transformation in the EBRD's country targets in which projects are financed, this institution contributes to political transformation in these same states. From

21780-428: The organization's conditional loans. During the 20th century, the IMF shifted its position on capital controls. Whereas the IMF permitted capital controls at its founding and throughout the 1970s, IMF staff increasingly favored free capital movement from 1980s onwards. This shift happened in the aftermath of an emerging consensus in economics on the desirability of free capital movement, retirement of IMF staff hired in

21945-491: The organization's other member-states. This transparency is intended to facilitate international co-operation and trade. Since the demise of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates in the early 1970s, surveillance has evolved largely by way of changes in procedures rather than through the adoption of new obligations. The Fund typically analyses the appropriateness of each member country's economic and financial policies for achieving orderly economic growth, and assesses

22110-424: The other side the development banking side working mostly with the public sector). Consequently, the two divisions came to be merged into a single one, substituting this structure with another one instead dividing the bank with seven policy and country regional sub-divisions. Representatives from each member state compose this board, they have authority power. The Board of Directors consists of 23 members elected by

22275-549: The parties entered into an interim peace treaty granting the Soviet Union a portion of the eastern region of Karelia (10% of Finnish territory), and the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was established by merging the ceded territories with the KASSR . After a June 1940 Soviet Ultimatum demanding Bessarabia, Bukovina , and the Hertsa region from Romania, the Soviets entered these areas, Romania caved to Soviet demands and

22440-525: The party. Media served as an important form of control over information and society. The dissemination and portrayal of knowledge were considered by authorities to be vital to communism's survival by stifling alternative concepts and critiques. Several state Communist Party newspapers were published, including: The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) served as the central agency for collection and distribution of internal and international news for all Soviet newspapers, radio and television stations. It

22605-517: The potential Soviet annexation and control of countries in Central Europe. There were various Allied plans for state order in Central Europe for post-war. While Joseph Stalin tried to get as many states under Soviet control as possible, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill preferred a Central European Danube Confederation to counter these countries against Germany and Russia. Churchill's Soviet policy regarding Central Europe differed vastly from that of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt , with

22770-590: The power of the local Communist elites. The port city of Trieste was a particular focus after the Second World War. Until the break between Tito and Stalin, the Western powers and the Eastern bloc faced each other uncompromisingly. The neutral buffer state Free Territory of Trieste , founded in 1947 with the United Nations, was split up and dissolved in 1954 and 1975, also because of the détente between

22935-401: The primary method of Communist rule shifted from mass terror to selective repression, along with ideological and sociopolitical strategies of legitimation and the securing of loyalty. Juries were replaced by a tribunal of professional judges and two lay assessors that were dependable party actors. The police deterred and contained opposition to party directives. The political police served as

23100-525: The prior appearance of democratic institutions. When it appeared that, in spite of heavy pressure, non-communist parties might receive in excess of 40% of the vote in the August 1947 Hungarian elections , repressions were instituted to liquidate any independent political forces. In that same month, annihilation of the opposition in Bulgaria began on the basis of continuing instructions by Soviet cadres. At

23265-505: The projects signed during the 1991–1993 period. Some NGOs have criticized the EBRD for financing projects they consider to be environmentally and socially harmful. Although it has increased its investments into energy efficiency and sustainable energy in recent years, these NGOs consider the bank continues to diminish the impacts of green investments by financing carbon-intensive development such as coal, oil and gas production, transportation and generation, motorways, and airports. Among

23430-593: The sharp 1953 increase was fear of potential further Sovietization with the increasingly paranoid actions of Joseph Stalin in late 1952 and early 1953. 226,000 had fled in just the first six months of 1953. With the closing of the Inner German border officially in 1952, the Berlin city sector borders remained considerably more accessible than the rest of the border because of their administration by all four occupying powers. Accordingly, it effectively comprised

23595-409: The sovereignty of full UN member states, such as Aruba , Curaçao , Hong Kong , and Macao , as well as Kosovo . The corporate members appoint ex-officio voting members, who are listed below . All members of the IMF are also International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) members and vice versa. Former members are Cuba (which left in 1964), and Taiwan , which was ejected from

23760-413: The substitution of autonomous law. Initially, communist parties were small in all countries except Czechoslovakia, such that there existed an acute shortage of politically "trustworthy" persons for administration, police, and other professions. Thus, "politically unreliable" non-communists initially had to fill such roles. Those not obedient to communist authorities were ousted, while Moscow cadres started

23925-416: The system to balance the rebuilding of international capitalism with the maximization of national economic sovereignty and human welfare, also known as embedded liberalism . The IMF's influence in the global economy steadily increased as it accumulated more members. Its membership began to expand in the late 1950s and during the 1960s as many African countries became independent and applied for membership. But

24090-455: The systems: A 2021 study found that the IMF's surveillance activities have "a substantial impact on sovereign debt with much greater impacts in emerging than high-income economies". IMF conditionality is a set of policies or conditions that the IMF requires in exchange for financial resources. The IMF does require collateral from countries for loans but also requires the government seeking assistance to correct its macroeconomic imbalances in

24255-597: The terms of a novel bail-in scheme. The topic of sovereign debt restructuring was taken up by the IMF in April 2013, for the first time since 2005, in a report entitled "Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Recent Developments and Implications for the Fund's Legal and Policy Framework". The paper, which was discussed by the board on 20 May, summarised the recent experiences in Greece, St Kitts and Nevis, Belize, and Jamaica. An explanatory interview with deputy director Hugh Bredenkamp

24420-499: The three corresponding countries to be "Soviet Socialist Republics" and requested their "admission into Stalin 's Soviet Union". This formally resulted in the Soviet Union's annexation of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in August 1940. The international community condemned this annexation of the three Baltic countries and deemed it illegal. In 1939, the Soviet Union unsuccessfully attempted an invasion of Finland , subsequent to which

24585-442: The vestiges of democratic institutions were never entirely destroyed, resulting in the façade of Western style institutions such as parliaments, which effectively just rubber-stamped decisions made by rulers, and constitutions, to which adherence by authorities was limited or non-existent. Parliaments were still elected, but their meetings occurred only a few days per year, only to legitimize politburo decisions, and so little attention

24750-796: The world signed a declaration in opposition to this and other projects proposed for the Ohrid-Prespa region, a message that was reinforced by a Joint Reactive Monitoring Mission from the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and the IUCN, which requested total cancellation of proposed A3 road sections. This recommendation was underlined by the World Heritage Committee at its 41st session in Kraków. Eventually, in February 2018,

24915-464: The world." Established in July of 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference , primarily according to the ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes , it started with 29 member countries and the goal of reconstructing the international monetary system after World War II . In its early years, the IMF primarily focused on facilitating fixed exchange rates across the developed world. It now plays

25080-477: Was Albania , where leader Enver Hoxha immediately changed course from favoring Yugoslavia to opposing it. In Poland , leader Władysław Gomułka , who had previously made pro-Yugoslav statements, was deposed as party secretary-general in early September 1948 and subsequently jailed. In Bulgaria , when it appeared that Traicho Kostov, who was not a Moscow cadre, was next in line for leadership, in June 1949, Stalin ordered Kostov's arrest, followed soon thereafter by

25245-608: Was at this number that the Greek government-debt crisis started in 2010. In 1995, the International Monetary Fund began to work on data dissemination standards with the view of guiding IMF member countries to disseminate their economic and financial data to the public. The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) endorsed the guidelines for the dissemination standards and they were split into two tiers: The General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) and

25410-634: Was caused, in part, by early local elections of October 1946 in which the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) was rejected in favor of the Social Democratic Party, which had gained two and a half times more votes than the SED. The United States, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several other countries began a massive "Berlin airlift", supplying West Berlin with food and other supplies. The Soviets mounted

25575-421: Was convinced by Churchill and Roosevelt not to dismember Germany. Stalin stated that the Soviet Union would keep the territory of eastern Poland they had already taken via invasion in 1939 with some exceptions , and wanted a pro-Soviet Polish government in power in what would remain of Poland. After resistance by Churchill and Roosevelt, Stalin promised a re-organization of the current pro-Soviet government on

25740-521: Was eager to accept the US aid; the Polish government had a similar attitude, and this was of great concern to the Soviets. In one of the clearest signs of Soviet control over the region up to that point, the Czechoslovakian foreign minister, Jan Masaryk , was summoned to Moscow and berated by Stalin for considering joining the Marshall Plan. Polish Prime minister Józef Cyrankiewicz was rewarded for

25905-523: Was effectively halted in the early 1950s, with the Soviet approach to controlling national movement emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc. However, in East Germany , taking advantage of the Inner German border between occupied zones, hundreds of thousands fled to West Germany, with figures totaling 197,000 in 1950, 165,000 in 1951, 182,000 in 1952 and 331,000 in 1953. One reason for

26070-444: Was effectively impossible. This later included internal passport controls , which when combined with individual city Propiska ("place of residence") permits, and internal freedom of movement restrictions often called the 101st kilometre , greatly restricted mobility within even small areas of the Soviet Union. After the creation of the Eastern Bloc, emigration out of the newly occupied countries, except under limited circumstances,

26235-421: Was frequently infiltrated by Soviet intelligence and security agencies, such as the NKVD and GRU . TASS had affiliates in 14 Soviet republics, including the Lithuanian SSR , Latvian SSR , Estonian SSR , Moldavian SSR . Ukrainian SSR and Byelorussian SSR . Western countries invested heavily in powerful transmitters which enabled services such as the BBC , VOA and Radio Free Europe (RFE) to be heard in

26400-412: Was located in Europe. In Western Europe , the term Eastern Bloc generally referred to the USSR and Central and Eastern European countries in the Comecon ( East Germany , Poland , Czechoslovakia , Hungary , Romania , Bulgaria , and Albania ). In Asia , the Eastern Bloc comprised Mongolia , Vietnam , Laos , Kampuchea , North Korea , South Yemen , Syria , and China . In the Americas ,

26565-446: Was made in the context of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine . As of 2014 Russia has been the biggest funding recipient of all countries. In 2013, the Russian Federation received €1.8 billion for investments from the EBRD and 1 billion € from the EIB. Russia employed the funds to finance a variety of projects like pipeline valves, property acquisitions, and a loan to a hypermarket chain. Two Russian projects were awaiting funding from

26730-460: Was paid to them that some of those serving were actually dead, and officials would openly state that they would seat members who had lost elections. The first or General Secretary of the central committee in each communist party was the most powerful figure in each regime. The party over which the politburo held sway was not a mass party but, conforming with Leninist tradition, a smaller selective party of between three and fourteen percent of

26895-433: Was published a few days later, as was a deconstruction by Matina Stevis of The Wall Street Journal . In the October 2013, Fiscal Monitor publication, the IMF suggested that a capital levy capable of reducing Euro-area government debt ratios to "end-2007 levels" would require a very high tax rate of about 10%. The Fiscal Affairs department of the IMF, headed at the time by Acting Director Sanjeev Gupta, produced

27060-523: Was readmitted in 1990, after the Velvet Revolution . Apart from Cuba, the other UN states that do not belong to the IMF are Monaco and North Korea . Liechtenstein became the 191st member on 21 October 2024. Any country may apply to be a part of the IMF. Post-IMF formation, in the early postwar period, rules for IMF membership were left relatively loose. Members needed to make periodic membership payments towards their quota, to refrain from currency restrictions unless granted IMF permission, to abide by

27225-513: Was the "monetary approach to the balance of payments". Some of the conditions for structural adjustment can include: These conditions are known as the Washington Consensus . These loan conditions ensure that the borrowing country will be able to repay the IMF and that the country will not attempt to solve their balance-of-payment problems in a way that would negatively impact the international economy . The incentive problem of moral hazard —when economic agents maximise their own utility to

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