Review of Swedish support to the Serbian administration to prepare a national project pipeline for environmental investments

Sida supports the Ministry of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection (MEDEP) to increase its capacity to work with environmental investments and for Serbia to increase its uptake of environmental funding from EU IPA and other sources of funding, both grants and loans. The project's overall objective is that the Department for Project Management (DPM), within the Ministry (MEDEP), has the capability and tools to oversee the programming and implementation of at least €40m of environment infrastructure projects each year of accreditation and be ready for EU structural funds on accession.

The inception phase was finalized in June 2011 and was followed shortly by support to the main phase. The main phase runs from July 2011 to January 2014 and receives financial support of 25 MSEK. Sida receives semi-annual progress reports and partners hold semi-annual review meetings based on the reporting.

Sida has received a request from MEDEP for additional funding, in the amount of 1 MEUR, with the aim to up-scale the Department for Project Management’s support to environmental infrastructure investment projects. The extension, including the additional funding, would be based on the same objectives and working methods as in the on-going cooperation. Sida would like to carry out a mid-term/near-end review of the progress achieved so far and also appraise plans for an extension of the cooperation.

The assignment had two objectives. Firstly to review progress achieved so far within EISP, and secondly to appraise the request for an extension of the project.