The WBIF had its 28th meeting of the Project Financiers' Group (PFG) on 14 November in Brussels. Around 90 participants from the European Commission, financial institutions (EIB, EBRD, CEB, KfW, WBG, AFD, EIF), bilateral donors, Western Balkans beneficiaries and the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) attended the meeting. 

The meeting was co-chaired by DG NEAR’s Head of Sector Mr. Wolfgang Schläger and EBRD’s Managing Director for Central and South Eastern Europe, Mrs. Charlotte Ruhe.

Project grant recommendations included EUR 4.8 million in TA grants for preparation of four digital infrastructure and two environment projects as well as EUR 189.2 million in investment grants for the connectivity projects endorsed at the Western Balkans Summit in Poznań and four environment projects co-financed by the WBIF bilateral donors. These will be submitted to the 21^st WBIF SC for approval on 16-17 December in London.

This PFG focused on WBIF’s evolution ("WBIF 2.0") and recommendations are being finalised with view to the WBIF SC meeting for adoption. Technical discussions included the state of play of the transport Corridor Vc in Bosnia and Herzegovina, priorities for the Regional Energy Efficiency Programme (REEP/REEP) Plus and a presentation by DG Connect on widening the scope of WBIF’s support for digital infrastructure to advance this sector in the Western Balkans along the developments in the EU.

More details (agenda, presentations) can be found on the WBIF website in Library.

REEP/REEP Plus videos courtesy of EBRD and KfW:

Supporting energy efficiency in Serbia. (c) EBRD

Keeping warm with thermal insulation. (c) GEFF Programme