Countries

As defined by the World Bank, the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region includes the following 28 countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Slovenia moved from borrower to donor status on March 17, 2004. The World Bank maintains a separate assistance program in the Province of Kosovo (Serbia and Montenegro) which is under temporary administration by the United Nations according to UNSC 1244.

The region's countries have faced diverse challenges ranging from meeting EU accession requirements to establishing viable public institutions and rebuilding shattered societies after wars and natural disasters. ECA encompasses both middle and low income nations whose shared experience of the transition from plan to market sets them apart from other regions. While there has been remarkable progress in many countries, poverty, inequality and unemployment remain high, making the World Bank's poverty reduction mission critically important.

• New European Union (EU) member states: The World Bank has updated a partnership framework to provide support during the initial phase of EU membership to the eight new member sates of the ECA region (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia).
• EU candidate countries: World Bank assistance increasingly focuses on assisting them in meeting the requirements of the EU acquis communautaire The acquis communautaire are the laws, rules and regulations governing the EU. as well as addressing broader development needs (Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Turkey).
• Western Balkans: The strategy has evolved from post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction to structural reform, institutional development and integration to Europe (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro).
• Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Ukraine: With the deepening of reforms in the larger economies of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the World Bank is providing advisory and, selectively, financial assistance for improving the business environment, boosting public sector reform and mitigating social and environmental risks.
• Other CIS countries: The World Bank is working with the international community to accelerate growth and reduce poverty by providing advice and financial support for sustainable recovery and stability (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan).

In a number of cases, development of the infrastructure and energy sector will require transnational initiatives. For example, in the Central Asian republics, water and fossil fuel resources are distributed unevenly. Currently, waters from the main cascades are used across the region for both irrigation and power generation purposes while upstream countries rely on the others for the supply of fossil fuels. There is no long-term, multilateral or commercial orientation to the agreements on the use of these resources. Consequently, downstream countries suffer as the increase in upstream use of hydropower results in a lack of downstream water supply for agriculture and unmanaged spills causing flooding. Likewise, countries requiring fossil fuel imports suffer as prices are distorted and supply is inconsistent. Furthermore, the Central Asian republics are landlocked and their access to international markets is effectively controlled by Russia and other neighboring countries. The construction of new energy outlets such as pipelines will, therefore, be dependent upon the negotiation of multi-country agreements. Similarly, trade and transportation are areas requiring multi-country agreements and alignment. Without aggressive trade and transport facilitation, the reform of and investments in the transportation sector and the establishment of logistical and distribution centers can bring only limited results. Cooperation between the different border agencies such as customs and border police, the transport authorities, and service suppliers both within and between countries and with countries along the same transport corridors is needed in order to reduce waiting times at the borders and to provide essential cost savings and growth of legal trade and transit.