The National Coordinators have recently approved six new Technical Cooperation Projects (TCs), to be funded under the CEI Fund at the EBRD, entirely financed by the Italian Government. The approved projects have an overall value of 943,290 EUR, with an expected related investment amounting to 293.4 million EUR.
All the TCs - supporting EBRD operations in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine - are consistent with the Fund’s Strategy for 2020 and have a robust results framework:
- “SEZ Minsk Electricity Network Upgrade - Project Implementation Support”: with a value of 200,000 EUR and an expected related investment of 14.2 million EUR, it will upgrade the regional distribution network in Belarus and service the electricity needed for private residents of the Minsk Free Economic Zone located in the Fanipol, Minsk region in Belarus.
- “Mostar North to Mostar South Motorway”: it will provide technical assistance with the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Motorways as a client, for the construction of Mostar North - Mostar South section of Corridor Vc. While the Fund will provide 72,790 EUR, the expected related EBRD and local investment is estimated at 60 million EUR.
- “Montenegro Renewables: Governance and Climate Resilience”: it aims at supporting an operation for the comprehensive restructuring of the Montenegrin state power utility in order to refocus the company on the development of renewable capacity and attract strategic investors in the distribution and renewable generation business segments. The technical assistance funded with a total cost of 225,000 EUR, will contribute to mobilising an overall international investment of about 70 million EUR.
- “Road Corridor VIII - Phase 1 (Kichevo - Bukojchani section of Motorway A2). Biodiversity Assessment”: it will support the feasibility study with the Public Enterprise for State Roads of North Macedonia for the construction of motorway section A2 Gostivar – Kichevo which is part of Corridor VIII, subsection Bukojchani – Kichevo. The cost of the project is 95,500 EUR, while the expected related investment is estimated at 69.2 million EUR.
- “Serbian Climate Resilience and Irrigation Project (SCRIP) - Development of irrigation strategy”: financed with 150,000 EUR, it aims at supporting Serbia with the drafting of its Irrigation Development Strategy and the identification of specific policy and investment options for increasing agricultural productivity, sustainability and climate change resilience via enhanced and newly developed irrigation networks. It aims at supporting an operation for the construction and rehabilitation of primary irrigation infrastructure in the Negotin and Svilajnac regions of central Serbia, and the rehabilitation of two accumulation lakes in Vojvodina. The total expected investment amounts to around 30 milion EUR.
- “Methane Emissions Reduction Programme in Gas Supply Chains”: it aims at supporting an operation with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine for the measurement and reduction of methane fugitive emissions along the gas infrastructure, from upstream to distribution, owned by Naftogaz of Ukraine (NAK). The TC has a value of 200,000 EUR, with an expected EBRD and local investment of 50 milion EUR.
For more info: dovier@cei.int
The CEI Fund at the EBRD was established in 1992 by the Government of Italy “to assist the Bank’s countries of operation in central and eastern Europe in their economic and social transformation process”.
So far, it has financed projects and activities targeting the entire CEI region with a sole Italian contribution of 49.5 million EUR. Currently, countries of operations are the non-EU CEI Member States, namely: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine.