Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund (EPTATF)
EPTATF aims to enhance the quality and development impact of our Eastern Partnership operations. It is a multi-donor, multi-sector trust fund established by the EIB in December 2010 in response to the need for specific technical assistance support to its lending activities in the Eastern Partnership Countries.
Technical Assistance
EPTATF fills critical gaps for investment projects through a variety of instruments:
- financing pre-feasibility and feasibility studies;
- institutional and legal appraisals;
- environmental and social impact assessments;
- project management and borrower support throughout the project implementation process;
- financing upstream studies and horizontal institutional activities.
Through these instruments, EPTATF is a flexible mechanism, capable of providing rapid support to evolving needs and capacity development in the Eastern Partnership Countries.
EPTATF Countries
Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine are currently eligible for technical assistance. The Fund may also finance cross-border or regional studies or programmes closely linked to operations in the region.
Sectors
- Local private sector development, particularly supporting small and medium sized enterprises;
- Development of social and economic infrastructure, including: transport, energy, water, environmental infrastructure and information and communication technology;
- Climate change identification and adaptation
Complementarity and Coordination
The aim is to strengthen our lending activities in the Eastern Partnership Countries, complementing existing instruments. The Trust Fund operates with partner countries' strategies and plans. It has a pipeline of technical assistance operations and new ideas are being explored.
Currently, Austria, France, Latvia, Poland and Sweden have contributed to the Trust Fund with more countries expected to join. Participation enables contributing countries to provide strategic input to the EIB in its response to new challenges in the Eastern Partnership Countries.
Recent operations approved by the Contributors' Committee:
- Energy efficiency and renewable energy project preparation programme in urban area;
- Management and technical assistance support to the development of a water and wastewater system in Mykolayiv Vodokanal in Ukraine;
- Master-plan and preparation of investment programme for flood protection in Moldova;
- Eastern Partnership Internship Programme for university graduates from Eastern Partnership Countries;
- Project identification and preparation in railway infrastructure in Ukraine;
- Dniepropetrovsk metro traffic and marketing concept in Ukraine;
- Technical audits in road sector programme in Moldova;
- Feasibility study, EIA and detailed design of the rehabilitation and improvement of the M6 Vanadzor-Alaverdi-Georgian Border interstate road in Armenia;
- EIB-Eastern Partnership countries secondment programme;
- Study on private sector financing in the Eastern Partnership countries and the role of risk-bearing instruments.
Technical Assistance Identification
Technical assistance needs are identified through bilateral dialogue with the partner countries, the European Commission and other international financial institutions. We receive requests from the Eastern Partnership Countries and then propose technical assistance operations to EPTATF contributors for approval.
Tendering procedures
Technical assistance operations are subject to a tendering procedure. Depending on who is procuring the consultancy services, we either follow the European Commission's (EC) "Practical Guide to contract procedures for EC external actions" (EuropeAid cooperation office) or the EIB Guide to Procurement. We then monitor implementation in close cooperation with country promoters and other relevant partners.
