Following the approval of the Committee of National Coordinators (CNC) in Belgrade last month, the CEI Fund at the EBRD will support four new Technical Cooperation Projects (TC) and three new Know-how Exchange Programme (KEP) projects. The activities aim to tackle sectors of particular importance in the light of the current economic situation.
All the TCs will support international investments. The projects called Support Macedonia Railways in developing a Sustainable Energy Action Plan, and JSC Serbian Railways: Lender’s Monitor Advisor, will cover energy efficiency, construction and rehabilitation of rail infrastructure in Macedonia and Serbia respectively. Around €250 million are expected to be invested. Energy efficiency and environmental sustainability will also be tackled by the transport-related TC project on Sustainable Ports and Shipping in the Adriatic Sea and Black Sea. With an anticipated investment link between €55 million and €70 million, the project will focus on countries in the Western Balkans and Ukraine. The TC project on Strengthening the capacity of the Belarusian Renewable Energy Association will address the energy sector and will help to reshape the market in the country, leading to expected EBRD investments worth €50 million. The CEI Fund at the EBRD also supports capacity building and transfers of best practices by supporting three additional KEP projects with a total amount of €120,000. The beneficiary countries are Macedonia and Montenegro in particular as well as the other countries of the Western Balkan region. Two of the newly committed KEP projects - Training and Certification of Public Sector Accountants, and Training of Internal Auditors in Public Sector - will transfer know-how made available by the Center of Excellence in Finance from Slovenia, in collaboration with the World Bank. They will have a total value of more than €500,000 and aim to facilitate the building of the local training capacity as well as provide a think tank of specialists capable of planning and implementing necessary reforms. The KEP project on Evaluating SME Policy Implementation in the Western Balkans, will focus on enterprise development through know-how made available by the OECD Investment Compact. The project, which has a total estimated value of about €100,000, aims to develop policies supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in particular through the elaboration of the SME Policy Index 2011. For more information: dovier@cei-es.org