The CEI Committee of National Coordinators last week approved five technical cooperation projects for financing through the CEI Fund at the EBRD - entirely financed by the Italian Government. The overall commitment roughly amounts to 900,000 EUR. A first tranche of projects was approved in June this year for an equivalent committed amount.
In summary, in 2012 the CEI Fund at the EBRD has committed an overall amount of more than 1.8 million EUR for twelve technical cooperation assignments in non-EU CEI Member States mainly in the municipal and environmental infrastructure and energy efficiency sectors. Thanks to its volume of commitments in 2012, the CEI Fund at the EBRD has reconfirmed its instrumental role in disseminating best practice on energy efficiency and energy sustainability in the CEI region, in the Western Balkans in particular as well as in enhancing related EBRD investments. Since 2004, the CEI Fund contribution has been seminal in shaping the structure of the Bank’s Sustainable Energy Initiative.The partnership between the CEI and the EBRD has highly contributed to developing a strong project-oriented CEI dimension. This partnership has brought about outstanding results in terms of investments in the CEI Member States: the CEI-supported technical cooperation projects have led to €4.1 billion of investments provided by the Bank and other financiers. Thus, the CEI Fund at the EBRD has proved to be a very efficient and stimulating mechanism of cooperation. A detailed description of projects approved in 2012 is available here.
For more information: dovier@cei.int
*** In 1992, Italy signed an Agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on the establishment of a CEI Fund at the EBRD “to assist the Bank’s countries of operation in central and eastern Europe in their economic and social transformation process”. The Fund, towards which the Italian Government has solely made a total contribution of €36.5 million, mainly provides grant-type assistance for specific components of Technical Cooperation (TC) projects. Since its inception, the Fund has provided more than €22 million for funding TC projects. The CEI Fund has also contributed more than €1.2 million to the Know-How Exchange Programme (KEP), its second most important instrument and specific CEI tool.