CEI Trust Fund

In 1992 Italy signed an Agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on the establishment of a CEI Trust Fund at the London headquarters “to assist the Bank’s countries of operation in central and eastern Europe in their economic and social transformation process”.

A Secretariat for CEI Projects was established to manage the Trust Fund and carry out activities of pre-investment and capacity building for the identification, promotion and appraisal of projects in the CEI region, as well as activities related to project implementation.
The Fund has benefited from a total contribution of €30.5 million, entirely provided by the Italian Government. Since its inception, the CEI Trust Fund has provided almost 17.8 million EUR for funding Technical Cooperation (TC) projects. The Fund has also contributed a total of 2.6 million EUR to the economic or development oriented Know-How Exchange Programme and Cooperation Activities assignments. In addition to that, the Trust Fund financed also the CEI Summit Economic Forum which is organised annually by the Secretariat for CEI Projects in cooperation with the annual CEI rotating presidency.
As outlined in the CEI Plan of Action 2010-2012, the operational strategies of the CEI Trust Fund are in line with the EBRD country and sector strategies and with the ones of the other International Development Banks operating in the CEI region. The continuous cooperation with these institutions remains a feature of the CEI Trust Fund’s strategic approach.
Data show that the EBRD is increasingly funding projects in the Western Balkans and in European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) states (Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine among CEI member states), slowly drifting away from core Central European Countries which are now EU members. This shift is also be followed by the CEI Trust Fund. As such, ENP countries and Western Balkan states are prioritised by the Fund.