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Author: WeBalkans

Taking the taste of Montenegrin prosciutto across borders

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in Stories.

A Montenegrin company increases its export, revenue, and staff with EU support Dry-cured ham is a specialty of Njeguši, a village near the city of Cetinje in Montenegro. It is known for its particular flavour and aroma which is the result of the mixture of sea and mountain air and beech wood burned during the drying process. It is a familiar flavour for Montenegrins and visitors to the country, and now a company from Montenegro is working on introducing it across the Western Balkan region and wider market. Mediteranea is a medium-sized Montenegrin family business owned by husband and wife Marija and Ivan Špadijer. The company started small as a distributor of meat products in 2006 and has increased its revenue gradually, with Njeguški prosciutto becoming one of their main products. Ivan explains that the prosciutto requires complex production: the curing process includes salting with sea salt for about three weeks, pressing to remove excess liquid for a further three weeks, and light smoking and drying in the cool mountain breeze for three months followed by maturing. The whole process takes about a year.

 “Our subcontractors were not able to meet these requests properly so we decided to take over and do the packaging on our own”

  For around ten years, Mediteranea purchased the prosciutto from producers in the Njeguši area and it was packaged by other subcontractors. The business was going well, and the market was expanding but this growth came with challenges. The quality of the raw product was constant but the company started having issues with the packaging. Ivan explains that they started receiving requests from customers for improved quality of packaging. “Our subcontractors weren’t able to meet these requests properly so we decided to take over and do the packaging on our own,” he says. For this they needed additional equipment and facilities as this was a new area for the company. Initially they invested with their own capacities but this was not enough to meet demand. They therefore decided to apply for support from the EU’s Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance for Rural Development, IPARD. As a result, they received almost €35,000 of additional equipment including a packaging machine and two electric chain cranes, lifting to heights of up to 11 metres.

“If it wasn’t for the EU’s support through IPARD, we would be still struggling. The support made us more independent and helped us take control of the destiny and success of our company.”

About the programme Part of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) designed to support reforms in countries in the process of joining the EU, the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance for Rural Development (IPARD) focuses on the agri-food sectors of those countries and rural areas. Through this tool, the EU provides beneficiaries with financial and technical help to make their agricultural sector and rural areas more sustainable, aligning them with the EU’s common agricultural policy.   Mediteranea now produces and distributes over 50 tonnes of final products annually. They have many clients, among them hotel and restaurants and supermarket chains. Around 90% of their revenue comes from export. While the production is still covered by subcontractors in the Njeguši area, the packaging and distribution is now fully covered by the company. They have also doubled the size of their team from four to eight and are planning to increase it further. Ivan explains that the EU support was crucial to this success story. ”If it wasn’t for the EU’s support through IPARD, we would be still struggling. The support received from IPARD made us more independent and helped us take control of the destiny and success of our company,” he says.

EIB supports urban regeneration and higher education in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in News.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) – the EU’s lending arm – signed a cooperation agreement with the Canton of Sarajevo and the University of Sarajevo to support the development of a master plan for the main campus in the city centre. The €500 000 grant is being provided under the Urban Projects Finance Initiative (UPFI) in partnership with the French development bank AFD, and financed by the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI). The grant will enable the preparation of a master plan and feasibility study for the integration of different educational and scientific research units of the University of Sarajevo into one consolidated campus.  
The strategy to be developed under the ERI technical assistance will consist of the redevelopment of the former army barracks in the centre of Sarajevo along with the construction of faculties, institutes, other facilities and the accompanying infrastructure, resulting in the creation of a high-quality campus area. It will ensure improved facilities for students and academic staff, as well as effective collaboration between faculties, academies and research institutes.  
The entire future project cost is estimated in the range of €120 million to €160 million. Apart from education facilities, the project will also cover the accompanying infrastructure, such as roads, car parks and garages, and public greenery. Particular attention will be paid to the energy efficiency of the buildings and to management arrangements, including the training of management and maintenance staff during the project implementation.

EBRD and EU to boost competitiveness of SMEs in North Macedonia

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in News.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in North Macedonia will be able to access €4 million to help them become more competitive, thanks to a new EBRD loan extended to Ohridska Banka. SMEs can also obtain technical assistance, including hands-on EBRD advisory support. After successfully completing their investment, they will also be eligible for a cashback grant of 15 per cent of the total loan amount, funded by the European Union.  
The loan to Ohridska Banka is a part of the Western Balkans SME Competitiveness Support Programme, to which the EBRD provides loans and the EU contributes incentive payments and technical assistance. The goal is to help SMEs modernise their activities and take advantage of trade opportunities in the Western Balkans region and wider European market.  
Ambassador David Geer, Head of Delegation of the European Union, said: “Access to finance is essential for the future growth and development SMEs in North Macedonia. This support is part and parcel of our continuing efforts to promote a positive business climate for SMEs and thereby stimulate the creation of jobs and economic recovery”.  
The EBRD is a major institutional investor in North Macedonia. To date, the Bank has invested €2.14 billion through 145 projects in the country, where it focuses on the expansion of the local private sector, the promotion of regional and international integration and the sustainable use of resources.

A walk through Western Balkans cultural heritage

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in Stories.

An EU-funded project supports a unique way of promoting cultural heritage in the Western Balkans Imagine a region where you can find monuments from ancient Greece, the Roman and Ottoman empires, and socialist regimes. This is a place where eastern and western cultures are blended – in food, traditional clothes, language, and other cultural heritage traits: this is the Western Balkans. Now an NGO from Serbia – Association Manifesto – has, along with partners from Montenegro and North Macedonia, developed a unique way of promoting this little-known heritage. Their innovative concept developed as part of the EU-funded project, Heritage Walks and Talks. They bring heritage locations closer to visitors and increase the appeal of lesser-known sites by employing innovative storytelling methods to present facts, but also oral history and urban legends and by promoting them through contemporary online methods, including social media and a dedicated mobile application. The project includes the promotion of monuments from the Second World War, through imperial palaces and ancient settlements, walking all the way to prehistoric settlements set in beautiful landscapes. The Heritage Walks concept was first introduced within the Council of Europe’s Faro Convention on the values of cultural heritage for society, as good practice for community-based heritage-led initiatives. The project idea was developed from this concept, where participants are introduced to hidden corners of their nearby area through an interesting storyline. As well as bringing tourists to local curiosities, heritage walks bring visitors to local service providers, all connected through a particular story.

“In every museum or cultural institution we have professionals who are good at their specific subject such as archaeology, anthropology or biology, but are not as good at storytelling. We wanted to take a new approach.”

A different kind of storytelling

Ivan Svetozarevic is a Project Manager from Association Manifesto which won a grant for this project from the Tourism Development and Promotion Project, funded by the EU and implemented by the Regional Cooperation Council. He explains that the project idea was developed based on a number of specific challenges that the tourism industry was facing in promoting cultural heritage. The main challenge was the lack of attractive interpretation and storytelling methods for cultural heritage in general, and cultural heritage in rural areas in particular. “In every museum or cultural institution, we have professionals who are good at their specific subject such as archaeology, anthropology or biology, but are not as good at storytelling,” he says. The project picked eight locations in three Western Balkan countries  including Felix Romuliana in Serbia, medieval fortress Svač in Montenegro, Samoil’s fortress in North Macedonia and similar, and hired professionals to develop stories based on facts but also on oral history  and urban legends and came up with a unique approach which sets a story in a wider context. “We wanted to offer a new storytelling approach for heritage in the Western Balkans: a new product,” says Ivan. In parallel, the project developed specific routes around the sites. The routes include local businesses such as small shops and restaurants and in this way provide an opportunity for engaging and creating benefits for local communities and businesses around the sites.

“Most visitors by default choose bigger towns and cities when it comes to cultural tourism. The sites selected by our project are mostly in rural areas which now benefit economically from tourism” 

About the project The Tourism Development and Promotion Project, funded by the EU and implemented by the Regional Cooperation Council, is worth €5 million. It works to develop and internationally promote joint regional cultural and adventure tourism offers, increasing the number of tourists visiting the six Western Balkans economies, and extending tourist stays in the region. Association Manifesto was among grant recipients in the second round of grants – worth up to €54,000 each –awarded in October 2019. The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is an EU co-funded initiative that promotes cooperation, reconciliation, and economic and social development in the region. The selected sites are from Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The routes and stories are uploaded on the web page and mobile app developed by the project so visitors can independently visit and enjoy the sites. This provides an opportunity for the visitors to have a cross-border experience while enjoying the cultural heritage promoted by the project. In this way, the project contributes to joint promotion of the regional cultural tourism offer, lengthens visitors’ stay in the region and increases revenues and employment in the tourism industry. Most of the sites selected by the project are in rural areas and Ivan explains, “Most visitors by default choose bigger towns and cities when it comes to cultural tourism. The sites selected by our project are mostly in rural areas which now benefit economically from tourism”.

“Listening to vocational teachers and principals”

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in Publications.

This research is based on a survey of over 10,000 teachers and some 750 school principals from nine countries, among them Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. The study reveals the extent to which teacher policies have been successfully implemented and the challenges the education systems face.

EIF Annual Report

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in Publications.

The pandemic has brought about unprecedented levels of uncertainty, insecurity and isolation and difficulties for millions of small businesses in 2020. This report provides information on the EIF support to help small businesses and SMEs respond to the challenges posed by COVID-19.

Big ideas – hope and strength

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in Publications.

The EIB has invited international thought leaders and experts to write about the most important issues of the day. This is one of the essays in the Big Ideas series which are a reminder that we need new thinking to protect the environment, promote equality and improve people’s lives around the globe.

The EU in 2020

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in Publications.

Do you want to know what the EU did during the year to combat the pandemic and its effect? The measures it took to boost jobs, growth and investment? Or how citizens benefited from the European Union? You can find the answers to all these questions and more in The EU in 2020.