LONDON, April 4. /TASS/. The Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development approved taking firm action against Russia and Belarus, suspending the access by both countries to its financing and expertise, the EBRD said in a statement on Monday.

"The EBRD Board of Governors have approved taking firm action against the Russian Federation and Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine. Access by the Russian Federation and Belarus to the resources of the Bank is to be formally suspended with immediate effect. This means that there can be no new financing of projects or technical cooperation activities in either country," the financial organization said.

The bank also "avails itself of all rights to suspend or cancel further disbursements of funding on existing projects," according to the statement.

Earlier, the EBRD said it was in the process of closing its resident offices in Moscow and Minsk.

Russia has been the EBRD member since 1992. The bank halted investments in Russian projects in 2014, after the EU and the US imposed sanctions against Moscow.