Brussels, 29/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - On the occasion of the Eastern Partnership summit held in Warsaw on 29-30 September (see separate article), Poland announced that it would provide €1 million for the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund (EPTATF).
The EPTATF is a trust fund launched by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in December 2010. It focuses on increasing the quality and development impact of Eastern Partnership operations by making available much-needed technical assistance. It aims to speed up and ensure more successful project implementation in Eastern Partnership countries -Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus (subject to agreement in the future by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament) - Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
Under the current mandate, the EIB can lend up to €3.7 billion to projects in Eastern Europe, Southern Caucasus and Russia during the 2007-2013 period. In this context, the EIB is prepared to consider supporting sound projects in the areas of transport, energy, telecommunications and environmental infrastructure. In addition, in Eastern Partnership countries, the EIB can support SMEs through lending via banks.
To complement the mandate, the EIB has set up the Eastern Partners Facility (EPF) at its own risk for an amount of €1.5 billion, with a €500 million ceiling for projects in Russia. This facility enables the Bank to support investment grade projects, notably EU Foreign Direct Investment (fdi) in the region.
The EPTATF is governed by a Contributors Committee. Contributions can be provided by EU member states, the European Commission, beneficiary countries and interested third parties. The fund is administered by the EIB on behalf of its contributors. (OL/transl.fl)