Office for South East Europe European Commission / World Bank

Regional Infrastructure Projects - Status as of June 2002

The attached tables provide an overview of the ongoing regional infrastructure projects which are being monitored by the Infrastructure Steering Group (ISG). The current list comprises some 46 projects, with a total cost of €3.46 billion (see attachment)¹. These 46 projects have financing secured or under preparation with the involvement of bilateral donors or international financial institutions, and were selected according to the agreed criteria of: technical, economical and environmental feasibility; submission by two or more countries of the region; and a marked regional character.

The breakdown of the 46 projects totaling 3.46 bn Euro is as follows:

Albania = 410.02 mn Euro, BiH = 347.50 mn Euro, Bulgaria = 650.00 mn Euro, Croatia = 265.14 mn Euro, FYR Macedonia = 159.20 mn Euro, Romania = 885.74 mn Euro, FR Yugoslavia 452.05 mn Euro, Kosovo = 64.0 mn Euro, Moldova = 42.08 mn Euro, Regional Projects = 184.70 mn Euro.

The selection of projects by the Infrastructure Steering Group is an ongoing process. There may be projects currently on the list which do not materialize and others which will appear on the list at a later date. Inclusion of new projects on the list will reflect progress made in securing financing for infrastructure projects promoting regional objectives in the transport, energy and environmental sector and meeting the agreed criteria of technical, economical and environmental feasibility.

A breakdown by sector (see attachment) shows that the most heavily invested sector is transport (particularly road infrastructure) which represents 70% of the overall cost, equivalent to some €2.42 billion, and spread between 37 different projects, of which six are cross-border or trade facilitation projects. The energy sector comes second, with a cost of €0.70 billion (20%) for four electricity projects, and the water and environment sector comes last with five projects and a total cost of €0.33 billion (10%).

Substantial progress has been made in getting projects started. The number of projects started by June 2002 has doubled compared to December 2001 and amounts to 50 % of all projects (23). Further 5 projects are expected to start before the end of 2002.

Attachments:

List of Regional Infrastructure Projects (pdf, 62 KB)

Annotated List of Regional Infrastructure Projects, with Commentary (pdf, 64 KB)

Overview of Projects by Sector (pdf, 13 KB)

¹ The list of projects has mainly been established by merging and consolidating the list of Quick Start infrastructure projects agreed at the Regional Funding Conference held in Brussels in March 2000 in support of the Stability Pact, and the list of regional infrastructure projects presented by the Chairman of the Infrastructure Steering Group at the second Regional Conference held in Bucharest in October 2001.