Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 BSEC Project Development Fund: A Presentation for the BSEC Workshop on Energy, Science & Technology and Environment 20 April 2007 Serbian Chairmanship

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 BSEC Workshop First, I wish to thank the Serbian Chairmanship for this important initiative, the “PROMITHEAS” PDF partnership for providing their expertise and organization,

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 the EU for participating and informing us on funding perspectives and of course the participants for accepting our invitation to attend this Workshop, hoping that it will be mutually beneficial and will lead to a closer collaboration in the field of regional projects

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 PDF established in 2004 The Fund became fully operational in 2004 when “The Manual of Operations of the BSEC Project Development Fund” was adopted by the BSEC Ministers of Foreign Affairs

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 BSEC PDF in operation ! In that way, BSEC did a concrete step towards implementing its project-oriented approach by providing an instrument for "seed money"

Project Development Process How? Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Project Development Process How? 1. An initial idea for a PROJECT is presented in compliance with the BSEC areas of cooperation and the guiding policies 2. The idea is further elaborated to become more concrete and justifiable

Project Development Process Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Project Development Process 3. It is then submitted to PDF to finance a pre-feasibility study 4. After the PDF-financed stage, the expected follow-up should be the financing and implementation of the project!

Project Development Process Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Project Development Process The objective is to finance PDF Applications that can lead to important projects (with an economic element) for the development of the Black Sea Region

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 In other words…. to facilitate the elaboration and promotion of (profit or non-profit) projects with high regional cooperation and development impact, at the very early stage of their conception, under the guidance of the relevant BSEC Working Group

The Fund provides financial resources for: Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Eligible uses The Fund provides financial resources for: any type of operation (study, concept development, demonstration activities etc.) leading up to the stage of a pre-feasibility study ……

Projects are encouraged to find co-financing from other sources. Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Initial capital Currently the Fund may provide Grants of up to $15,000 for each project Projects are encouraged to find co-financing from other sources.

Applications analytical Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Applications BSEC may finance projects that are: analytical well presented, structured & explained in English with a justified and realistic in purpose

Applications with good project management Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Applications with good project management with a good chance to be fully implemented in the future Answering the question: Who will want to finance the project in the future? And a justified, realistic and analytical Budget

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 A maturing PDF process PDF is gaining experience, as well as an increased number of Applications! PDF is eager to collaborate with partners and donors in launching joint projects!!

Prime actors – 3 Step procedure How it works: Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Prime actors – 3 Step procedure How it works: (1) The BSEC Working Groups (transport, communications, health, energy, tourism, etc.) evaluate and approve the relevant project Applications on their technical merit.

Prime actors – 3 Step procedure Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Prime actors – 3 Step procedure (2) The BSEC Committee of Senior Officials provides endorsement for project proposals, therefore deeming them eligible as BSEC multilateral projects

Prime actors – 3 Step procedure Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Prime actors – 3 Step procedure (3) The Steering Committee of the Fund decides which projects to finance and undertakes the management aspects of project financing, monitoring and control.

Steering Committee (step 3) Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Steering Committee (step 3) Powers: Decision making power on the distribution of the Fund’s resources (takes the final decision) Voting: Only the Member States which have transferred their voluntary contribution to the Fund have voting powers in the Steering Committee

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Steering Committee When it comes to voting for a project, the Member States, whose entities participate in the project, must be in favor

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Project Proposals In order to ensure their multilateral character project proposals shall involve legal entities from at least three (3) BSEC Member States

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Project Proposals Entities from non BSEC countries (e.g. Observers) are encouraged to participate but they cannot share the PDF budget.

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Project Proposals Eligible recipients are any legal entities (not persons) from the BSEC Member States whose proposals will be supported by the national authorities.

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Project Proposals They must be proposed through the relevant Working Group and have the support of the Member States involved Must be submitted in a Standard Application Form for funding a PDF Project (available on the BSEC website).

Project Selection Criteria Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Project Selection Criteria Project proposals must satisfy the BSEC selection criteria: The expected outputs of the project should agree and promote the principles and objectives of the BSEC. The Applicants must present an Assessment report on how their project implements Council Resolutions, etc.

Project Selection Criteria Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Project Selection Criteria The expected outcome of the project must be relevant to the proposed project objectives and sufficiently described. Timetable for operations, estimated costs and project management structure must be reasonable.

Project Selection Criteria Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Project Selection Criteria The applicants must have the capacity to implement the project. The project should involve as many BSEC countries as possible. There must be some economic element in the project

Project Selection Criteria Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Project Selection Criteria The possibility of the project to be implemented after the completion of the BSEC-financed component. (Who will want to finance it ?) The proposed project should seek to increase synergies between BSEC and EU. Can the project bring BSEC closer to the EU?

BSEC PDF AND YOU TOGETHER! Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 BSEC PDF AND YOU TOGETHER! Lets work together to achieve our common goals for the benefit of the Black Sea Region and its peoples!

Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 Information Further information on the Fund and its latest news can be obtained in the BSEC Web address: www.bsec-organization.org BSEC PERMIS is at the disposal of any institution of the Member States in order to provide information on PDF projects

BSEC – Project Development Fund Annex III to BS/SC/PDF/A(2003)1 BSEC – Project Development Fund THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND FOR BRINGING YOUR INSTITUTIONS CLOSER TO BSEC!