Post-conflict and Fragile States
After the end of the Kosovo war in 1999, Dimitri headed the IMF missions to Kosovo, working under challenging conditions in a territory without international recognition, physical security (except for KFOR), infrastructure, statistics, or know-how to get the devastated local economy going. He opened the IMF Office in Pristina in 2001, reached out to both ethnic communities, and worked with the EU High Representative and international donors for post-conflict reconstruction and economic institution-building. He described the challenges of these first critical years in Kosovo: Institutions and Policies for Reconstruction and Growth.
A few years later, he took over IMF operations in Bosnia & Herzegovina, still reeling under a dysfunctional power-sharing arrangement.
He has published a paper on the post-war challenges for the region, as well as research on the economics of post-conflict aid.
Dimitri worked during 2021-22 with Pragma Corporation on a USAID-funded project with the Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria. The project focused on institution-building and private sector development in the de facto autonomous region of NE Syria devastated by the recent conflict with ISIL and the Syrian civil war.
Drawing on his long-standing experience, Dimitri has recently led and co-authored a World Bank study on the role of financial sector reforms and policies in countries exiting from state fragility.