1. 11 th REReP Task Force Meeting 20th November, Budva, Montenegro Priority Environmental Investment Programme (PEIP). Progress in Environmental Investments in SEE Oreola Ivanova and Ruslan Zhechkov, Environmental Financing Topic Area

2. Selected Country Achievements and Developments Albania – Reform on Water Supply and Sewerage Sector – adopted July 2008; increased budget funds for waste and waste water reflecting government priorities BiH – adoption of Public Investment Programme 2008-2010 Croatia – Water Management Strategy adopted; Water Financing Strategy in the process of drafting; FYROM – the adoption of the National Environmental Investment Strategy 2009-2013 (NEIS) Kosovo (1244) – Strategy on Waste is in the process of drafting Montenegro –All relevant bodies for IPA coordination are established and operational; IPA list of projects for 2007-2008 was finalized; Serbia - Ministry of Finance and Municipal Infrastructure Support Programme for Serbia (MISP) initiated the debate on Public utility and Tariffs Reform; Reactivation of the Hazardous Waste Facility project;

3. General Challenges to the Environmental Investments in SEE – National Level Weak institutions for financing the environment (ministry departments, environmental funds) Lack of national environmental investment strategies (scattered, overlapping investments) Strong political influence on the process of project selection Lack of coordination among line ministries

4. General Challenges to the Environmental Investments in SEE – Local Level Weak capacities of water/waste utilities Lack of utility independence - high political influence on utilities Lack of positive SEE examples of regional approach in waste. Municipal utilities find it difficult to cooperate.

5. www.rec.org PEIP 2007-2008 Regional PEIP meetings, e.g. Brussels – November 2007, Budva – June 2008 5 national workshops on environmental investments -Serbia (water and waste) – 8-9/05/2008 -Montenegro (water and waste) – 13-14/05/2008 -Albania (water) – 25/09/2008 -FYROM (waste) – 28–29/09/2008 -Croatia (water) – 30/09/2008 3 project list and analytical reports update: -Sept/Oct 2007 -April/May 2008 -Sept/Oct 2008 Manual development -Water Utility Reform Manual – draft ready -Speeding up Investments in waste – work will start soon

6. www.rec.org Project Dynamics Past Year 111 project in total in air (7), water (58) and waste (46) Many new regional waste management projects have been formulated recently The projects in air are a few because IPPC is mostly in private domain 26 projects have been removed from the list because of secured funding or total lack of progress Significant progress or secured funding has been achieved (Albania – 43%; BiH – 0%; Croatia – 30%; FYROM – 22%; Montenegro – 55%; Serbia – 77%; Kosovo – 7%)

7. www.rec.org Other Relevant REC Work, examples Cross-border Cooperation through Environmental Planning and Investments – 3 PFS and 4 FS in water supply and rehabilitation; waste water treatment and (funded by Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs); Preparation of the National Environmental Investment Strategy (FYR of Macedonia) (funded by ADA) Pre-feasibility studies for Strumica-Radovis and Polog regions on regional waste treatment solutions (FYR of Macedonia) (funded by Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Support to the Establishment of Regional Waste Management Centers in North-West Croatia and Eastern Slavonia (funded by NMFA)

8. www.rec.org PEIP Activities till Summer 2009 Regional PEIP meeting in Brussels – 28/11/2008 Finalizing the 2 manuals; Draft a final publication on environmental financing in SEE; Conduct 2 national workshops in BiH and Kosovo (1244) - Update project lists and analytical reports in spring of 2009 Conduct a final regional meeting in SEE in June 2009

9. www.rec.org Possible Directions of Future Work Based on identified challenges! Information exchange on environmental investment issues - regional meetings Support in establishing environmental financing institutions (i.e. environmental funds) Strengthening institutions for environmental financing (i.e. environmental funds and environmental investment agencies) Identification and prioritization of needs, e.g. investment strategies Manuals, guidance materials for strengthening the capacities of project proponents in different sectors

10. Thank you for your attention Oreola Ivanova and Ruslan Zhechkov Environmental Financing Topic Area Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe rzhechkov@rec.org