The attached list of regional projects has been prepared by the European Investment Bank as the leading institution for basic infrastructure investments in South-Eastern Europe. This list is based on the submissions of projects by the beneficiary countries, as well as information provided to the EIB by the European Commission, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development regarding projects for which they had been approached or which they had started to prepare. These four institutions agreed to jointly make a final screening and only retain those projects which:

• Have a marked regional character (either because they have a direct effect on more than one country, or for their demonstration value which will benefit all the countries in the region).
• Can reasonably be expected to be implemented in the next couple of years (therefore some long-term programmes such as the Adriatic Highway are not included).
• Do not raise critical issues, which can only be solved in the light of comprehensive regional studies included in the list of proposed projects (this is the case of electricity generation projects, which have not been retained at this stage).

As a consequence, a number of projects, some of them major, which are due to start very soon, are not included in the list when they do not meet the above three criteria.

Project suggestions have been grouped into:

• a Quick-Start Package of projects for which implementation is likely to start or a tender will be awarded during the next twelve months (up to 31 March 2001);
• a Near-Term Package of projects which appear prima facie economically justified, and do not present major sector or project issues, thus for which preparation (including tendering) should be accelerated; and
• a Medium-Term Package of projects that require further investigation or analysis on specific issues which must first be solved.

A few very large Quick-Start Projects have been split into two tranches, with the second tranche being included in the Near-Term Package since all their components will not start within the next twelve months. Other large projects as the Zagreb-Rijeka Motorway in Croatia (estimated to cost EUR 480 M) for which the financing plan is complete, have not been included.

It must be stressed that these packages already take into account the proposed financing programmes of the above four institutions (EC, EIB, World Bank and EBRD) and the commitments of some other donors. This explains why a number of projects are already fully financed, while others only require limited additional financing.

Regarding Montenegro, for which insufficient information is currently available, it has been decided to propose, in addition to a water project, two transport projects, one as a quick-start and the other as a near-term, the content of which is as yet unspecified but could include some of the following tentative rehabilitation elements: port of Bar (breakwater, EUR 12 M, quays, EUR 4 M), Bar-Podgorica-Kosovo border road (first tranche, EUR 20 M), Bijela floating dock (EUR 10 M), and railway locomotives, diesel mobile units and passenger carriages (EUR 5 M).

Progress on setting up financial plans will necessarily have to take place on a project-related basis and include the existing procedures of international financing institutions and bilateral donors. Financing of the proposed packages will have to consist of a mix of long-term debt, grant finance, budgetary funds of recipient countries, bilateral concessional funds and, whenever feasible, private sector involvement.

However, gathering financing is not an end in itself. Implementing projects is the real objective. In this respect, ongoing projects in a number of countries in the region have faced or are facing serious difficulties. Particular attention will need to be paid to implementation issues (such as institutional/legal framework and project implementation capacity by the relevant public administrations) if the projects are to be successful.