Italy donor information

Technical cooperation

Italy has been a major contributor to the EBRD Technical Cooperation Funds Programme since 1992 and, to date, has contributed more than €100 million between stand-alone TC resources and TC resources connected to co-financing initiatives. Italy’s support has been channeled mainly through the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, more recently, the Ministry of Environment and Territory have also participated. Italian donor funding is concentrating its efforts in the Balkans.

In 2006 Italy was the largest bilateral TC donor with commitments amounting to €5.7 million. Under the “Italian Cooperation Fund for Private Sector Development in the Western Balkans”, Italy has pledged €500,000 towards the EBRD Sustainable Energy Initiative and has committed to support the implementation of a waste-water treatment plant in Croatia; help the Municipality of Tirana to develop a new roads strategy; and support the implementation of SME credit lines in Albania and FYR Macedonia. Assistance to strengthen institutions was also given to the Port of Dubrovnik through the main Italian TC Fund.

Since 1992 the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has funded the activities of the Central European Initiative (CEI) by contributing €26.5 million. In 2006 this Initiative supported, among others, the implementation of an air navigation system in FYR Macedonia, an urban transport programme in Romania and a regional railway project in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while in 2007 the CEI has supported municipal infrastructure projects in Albania and Ukraine.  In 2006 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs financed a study on water resources in Albania.

 

Italy's contributions by technical cooperation fund to 2006
	€ million
Italian TC Fund	13.3
Central European Initiative	26.5
Regional Venture Fund - West Russia	6.6
Albania Reconstruction Equity Fund	8.4
Russia Small Business Fund	1.4
Bosnia SME Framework Facility	7.0
Kosovo Reconstruction Equity Fund	3.5
Serbia-Montenegro Risk Sharing Facility	8.5
Western Balkans Local Enterprise Facility	12.0
Italy Private Sector Development W. Balkans	4.0
Project specific contributions	8.5

Total

99.7

 

Italy's TC commitments by country 2006
	€
Regional	3,071,000
Albania	1,046,000
Bosnia & Herzegovina	280,000
Croatia	450,000
FYR Macedonia	248,000
Moldova	26,000
Romania	150,000
Russian Federation	217,000
Serbia	247,000
Total	5,735,000

 

EBRD-Italy Co-operation in the Balkans
Over the years, EBRD and Italy have established a number of special facilities to support EBRD investments in the Balkans. These include equity funds (the Albania and the Kosovo Reconstruction Equity Funds), the Serbia-Montenegro Italian Risk Sharing Facility, and the Bosnia-Herzegovina SME Framework Facility. Italy contributed around €22 million in co-investment money and over €7 million in TC money to support these facilities. The most important and substantial contribution to date was set up in April 2006 with the establishment of the Western Balkans Local Enterprise Facility (WBLEF). EBRD and Italy agreed on a contribution of €12 million, to establish a €32 million facility devoted to supporting EBRD ‘s equity, quasi equity and debt financing to local enterprises in the region. In October 2007 Italy replenished the WBLEF with a further contribution of €6.8 million including both co-investment financing and TC funding.

The Italian contributions for these facilities supported EBRD cumulative investments in excess of €100 million, with total project costs exceeding €200 million. The innovative feature of these facilities is the availability of Italian first loss co-investment amounts, which allows EBRD to mitigate overall investment risks and expand its market reach to local enterprises and new market segments.