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Author: WeBalkans

The EU and EBRD support coal transition in Kragujevac, Serbia

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Kragujevac, the fourth-largest city in Serbia, will make a big leap in its transition away from coal, thanks to an €18 million loan provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the decarbonisation of the district heating system. The EBRD loan will finance the decommissioning of coal boilers in the city’s district heating system, the installation of new natural gas boilers and the management of an open ash-disposal site. The financing will be complemented by technical support to the district heating company to help further decarbonise the heat supply and introduce renewable energy sources.  
In coordination with the European Union, the EBRD will also support Serbia in the preparation of a national energy and climate plan. The plan will define goals for reducing emissions, increasing energy efficiency and boosting the share of renewable energy sources by 2030. The EBRD, owned by 69 countries, as well as the European Union and the European Investment Bank, is a leading institutional investor in Serbia. The Bank has invested more than €6.6 billion across 286 projects in the country to date and is focusing on support for private-sector development, the improvement of public utility services and the overall transition to a green economy.

EU funded PowerUP programme announces winners of Western Balkan Excellence Award

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The final event of the EU-funded PowerUP programme, which supports innovative SMEs and start-up companies from the Western Balkans, took place on 29 June 2021. The event was marked by an awards ceremony to announce the winners of the “Western Balkans Entrepreneurial Excellence Award”. Eleven finalist companies had the opportunity to pitch their businesses in front of eminent investors from the region, with the three winners selected by a professional jury.

 

In first place was the company Dwelt,  an Bosnian IT company and the only startup with its own technology product in the field of energy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. NF Innova from Serbia, which focuses on digital banking and the provision of services to financial institutions, took second place. Blinking from Serbia with a focus and expertise in building and developing digital identity, identity verification, and user data protection securing third.

 

The programme was launched by the World Bank in November 2020 and is funded by the EU under the Western Balkans Enterprise Development and Innovation Facility (WB EDIF), with leading consulting company, Deloitte, supporting its implementation. The 11 finalists, along with over 200 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, benefitted from training over several months to support their further growth and business development. This included learning about how to find and attract investment and cultivate crisis resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The winners will be provided with additional tailored business advisory support from experts of the leading professional services company, Deloitte.

Berlin Summit: Western Balkans strengthen regional cooperation and foster closer ties with the EU

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President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, participated in the Western Balkans Summit on 5 July in the context of the so-called ‘Berlin Process’. The summit brought together for the eighth time Heads of State or Government from the Western Balkans and their counterparts from nine EU Member States, high-level EU representatives and the United Kingdom, to advance on their regional cooperation and European integration agenda. The virtual meeting was hosted by Chancellor Merkel.

 

During the Summit, the Commission reconfirmed its commitment to cooperation with and support for the region in its post-pandemic recovery through the Economic and Investment Plan, focusing on green and digital transition investments, smart mobility links, sustainable energy, digital infrastructure, and business sector development and human capital, including youth. The Commission also called for further progress in the region’s economic integration to reap the full benefits of the planned investments.

 

President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in her opening address, said: “Our first priority is to accelerate the enlargement agenda across the region and support our Western Balkan partners in their work to deliver on the necessary reforms to advance on their European path. But our engagement with the Western Balkans goes beyond that, and the Berlin Process has served as an incubator for many initiatives that have now become an integral part of the EU’s policy vis-à-vis the region. Together we have set the course for a more sustainable, more digital and more resilient Europe.”

 

Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, emphasised: “Closing the socio-economic gap between the Western Balkans and the EU is crucial for the Enlargement process. We are bringing significant investment opportunities to the region through the Economic and Investment Plan. Now it is for the region to use them well by harnessing its full economic potential and establishing a Common Regional Market based on EU rules. Creating ‘Green Lanes’ on the border crossings within the entire region first, and now piloting this with an EU Member State is a perfect illustration of how this can work.”

 

Today’s Summit focused on the progress achieved by the region in economic integration under the Common Regional Market action plan from last year’s 2020 Sofia Summit, and on implementing the Economic and Investment Plan put forward by the Commission last autumn.

Team Europe – accelerating recovery of Western Balkan SMEs from COVID-19 impact

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The European Investment Bank (EIB) –the lending arm of the European Union – has signed loan agreements totalling up to €140 with private and public institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia. The EIB funds will boost support for small and medium-sized businesses for faster COVID-19 recovery by enabling access to immediate financing under favourable terms and conditions. At the same time, they will support recovery and growth by targeting specific economic sectors and groups such as agriculture, services, women and ICT entrepreneurship.

 

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, the EIB has signed two loans with UniCredit totalling up to €100 million. In Kosovo, the EIB will provide a €40 million loan, through the Kosovo Ministry of Finance, to KCGF (Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund) to issue credit guarantees to local financing institutions and facilitate working capital and longer-term capital investments to small businesses.

 

The support is part of the Team Europe initiative and the €1.7 billion financial programme adopted by the EIB in 2020 for the socio-economic recovery of the Western Balkans from the COVID-19 pandemic.

EU Member States send another batch of COVID-19 vaccines to Serbia

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The European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism transported a batch of 50,400 COVID-19 vaccines to Serbia. The AstraZeneca vaccines are a donation from Romania, an EU member state bordering Serbia. Today’s delivery constitutes another rapid reaction of the EU to the country’s needs in the fight against COVID-19. Overall, the EU has mobilised more than €66 million for Serbia for the immediate response against the coronavirus and will invest much more to support the economy, in particular small and medium sized enterprises.

 

Since March 2020, this is the 9th EU Civil Protection Mechanism operation responding to Serbian needs to fight COVID-19. The overall amount of assistance mobilised from the EU for Serbia through this mechanism reaches today more than €7 million. These funds served so far largely to deliver protective masks and other protective gear to Serbia which were later being used in hospitals and by police services and in the public administration.

 

Background

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism facilitates cooperation in emergency response, preparation and prevention between Member States, as well as several other European countries. Serbia became a member in 2015, but had already benefitted before that, during the devastating floods in May 2014.  That operation has been one of the largest since the Mechanism was established.

EU and Serbia strengthen cooperation in migration management

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The European Union and Serbia have signed a Treaty on support in migration management to improve reception capacities, protection services and access to education. Worth €2.3 million, the Treaty is part of a broader EU support to Serbia in the area and was signed by the European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson.

 

“The EU has been Serbia’s partner in solving migration challenges from the beginning, and I must say that you have been a reliable partner in this. It is important to treat people with humanity and dignity and to manage migration in an orderly way. The situation is now better than a few years ago, but we are now fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, and I commend your efforts for involving migrants in the process,” said Commissioner Johansson while on a two-day visit in the country.

 

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić pointed out that the EU assistance in this area is essential for Serbia, since it also invests money to control migrant movements. He pointed out that the assistance is helping the country support the capacities for migrants and their education.

 

EU support for migration management in Serbia addresses many challenges, including providing humanitarian assistance and protection to migrants, especially children, accommodation in reception and asylum centres, and strengthening social cohesion in local hosting communities.

EU promotes sustainable fashion through a festival in Montenegro

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Sustainable fashion will take central stage at this year’s third international fashion festival Green Edition Porto Montenegro 2021, an event financially supported by the European Union (EU). Designers focusing on “green, ethical and sustainable fashion” have EU’s support according to the head of the European Union Delegation to Montenegro, Ambassador Oana Cristina Popa.

 

“The European Union is a global pioneer in environmental protection and the fight against climate change, as well as in sustainable development and investment in the green and circular economy. That is why we have launched the European Green Deal and a Green Agenda for the Western Balkans. The coronavirus pandemic has shown us that we need to build a greener and fairer society,” Popa pointed out. She added that a change in the fashion and textile industry is much-needed because it produces huge amounts of waste every year.

 

Participating designer Aleksandra Džaković, the owner of the fashion house AKKA, recently started designing clothes by applying the principles of sustainable fashion. She also transfers architectural logic to the construction of garments, using biodegradable materials. AKKA is a design project that in a critical and environmentally conscious way re-examines the relationship between tradition and technology in the culture of clothing.

 

The festival is organised by the fashion agency Fabrika and Porto Montenegro and will take place between 23 to 24 July in Tivat.

Team Europe to support recovery of small businesses in North Macedonia

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The European Investment Bank (EIB) – the EU’s lending arm – is providing €100 million in funds as immediate support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support a faster recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The financing is part of the Team Europe initiative and the EIB’s financial recovery package to help the Western Balkans.

 

The scheme will be channelled through the Development Bank of North Macedonia JSC Skopje (DBNM) for businesses that operate in labour-intensive sectors such as manufacturing and services. The EIB loan will help SMEs and mid-caps maintain business continuity and sustain jobs, while increasing productivity and expanding their activities.

 

Lilyana Pavlova, EIB Vice-President responsible for the Western Balkans, said: “This loan testifies to our efforts to help the country’s transition to a stronger, more competitive and sustainable economy that is integrated in regional and EU markets. We are confident that we will further enhance our investment support for North Macedonia.”

 

The EU bank is one of the leading international financiers in the Western Balkans. As part of the Team Europe strategy, the EU’s global response to COVID-19, the EIB Group has rapidly mobilised €5.2 billion outside the European Union. For the Western Balkan countries specifically, the EIB has prepared an immediate support package of €1.7 billion, primarily for SMEs and the healthcare sector. The total EU financial support package for the Western Balkans amounts to more than €3.3 billion.

Anti-corruption public awareness event continues Western Balkans tour

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Pristina was the next capital city in the Western Balkans to host a performance that raises awareness on the importance of whistleblowing in stopping corruption. Through a 24-hour “Whistle for the End” performance, the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) demonstrated to citizens how they can save money from corruption, by pressing a button – symbolically ‘blowing the whistle’.

 

Speaking at the event, Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency, Shaip Havolli, spoke about the cooperation with RAI in fighting the phenomenon of corruption, and noted the progress made in implementing the Law on Protection of Whistleblowers. “We call on all public officials who consider that they have noticed violations in their organisation to report such violations in cooperation with responsible officials and thus increase transparency and institutional and individual accountability,” Havolli said.

 

On behalf of the RAI, Project Manager Elmerina Ahmetaj Hrelja said: “We invite citizens to ‘Whistle for the End!’ by pressing the button and thus symbolically stop corruption and further destruction of their money. This gesture will show us how much money together we can save from destruction when we do not accept to participate in corruption.”

 

Whistle for the End! is part of the educational and information campaign that RAI is implementing with the financial support of the European Union, as part of the project “Breaking the Silence: Enhancing the Whistleblowing Policies and Culture in the Western Balkans and Moldova”.

Refugees receive keys to their new EU-funded homes in Serbia

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Sixty refugee families received keys to their new homes in Loznica, western Serbia, as part of the Regional Housing Programme (RHP). Funded mainly by the European Union, the RHP programme has been helping refugees who have been displaced for decades, since the ‘90s wars in the region. Earlier this year, the Programme handed over newly constructed houses to another 65 families who have moved in around Indija, Irig, Pancevo and Krusevac.

 

Speaking in the name of the families, refugee Natasa Topo thanked RHP Programme for their efforts and was relieved to be able to “settle down permanently”. Dirk Lorenz, Head of the Political Section at the European Union Delegation to Serbia congratulated the beneficiaries on their new homes, adding that the RHP was another key example of solidarity of the EU community with people in need in the Western Balkans. “The EU is a devoted partner to Serbia in providing durable solutions, and this event today is the result of both big efforts and the dedication of international and local partners. May this new life bring you all happiness and success,” he said.