January - April 2019. The 4Assist team of three experts, Yiannis Hadziyiannakis, Gnel Sedrakyan and Fotis Karayannopoulos, completed the evalution of the State Building Contract in Ukraine. The main purpose of this evaluation was to provide the relevant services of the European Union and the interested stakeholders with an overall independent assessment of the performance of the State Building Contract, paying particular attention to its results measured against its objectives; factors that made possible or created obstacles to the achievement of results; key lessons and recommendations in order to improve future budget support programmes.

4Assist associates, together with our consortium partners BDO (UK), carried out an EU Operational Assessment in Ukraine.

Operational Assessments are launched by the Directorate General of Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) in order to assess the financial circuits of partner countries eligible for Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) programmes. The MFA is a form of extraordinary financial (budgetary and balance of payments) support offered to pre-candidate and candidate countries to the EU, as well as countries of the European Neighbourhood.

This is the second such assessment in Ukraine in recent years which will lead to significant financial support for Ukraine.

Since 2011, our consortium has carried out Operational Assessments in the Kyrgyz Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Moldova and Georgia. 4Assist highly values the continued confidence of DG ECFIN in undertaking these critical assignments.

EU Technical Assistance Project

“Support the Moldovan Government in identifying and preparing projects linked to the implementation of the Association Agreement”

 

OVERVIEW

 

4Assist is a core partner of a consortium that was recently awarded the 6mEUR Project to provide Support to the Moldovan Government in identifying and preparing projects linked to the implementation of the EU-Moldova Association Agreement. The EU – Moldova cooperation framework is governed by the EU-Moldova Association Agreement (AA) and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). The cooperation framework aims at stronger political association, economic integration, and growing trade. This Project is one of the many pieces in the greater chessboard of this cooperation framework. The objective of the Project is to strengthen the capacity of the national authorities to plan, prepare and manage public investment projects, both domestically and externally financed. Particular attention will be paid to capital projects that support the implementation of the EU-Moldova Association Agreement.

The Project consists of 4 components:

 

Component 1 – Strengthening national external assistance coordination system.

This Component is about assisting the Government of Moldova (represented by the Ministry of Finance) improve the management and coordination of external assistance. Externally funded projects and programmes need to contribute effectively to the Moldovan development objectives, and to Moldova’s obligations to the EU and other international partners. A key area under Component 1 is about making sure that external assistance is embedded into the budget process i.e. the MTBF and Annual Budget preparation. Using country systems in the delivery and management of external assistance is the most appropriate way to ensure the sustainable development of national systems responsible for aid management and coordination. Improvement and enhancement of existing IT systems, and development of new ones, is foreseen where necessary to increase efficiency in aid management and public investment management.

 

Component 2 – Strengthen the capacity of the national authority for external assistance.

The primary responsibility for managing external assistance rests with the Ministry of Finance as national coordinator. Under the second Component the Project will develop the capacities in the Ministry to ensure that proposed capital projects are linked to national and sectoral priorities, and that they are considered within the framework of a sound appraisal procedure. Capacity building efforts will be focussed on ensuring that projects are identified, appraised and formulated in a rational, systematic and technically sound way. This will include intensive customised and on-the-job trainings and workshops on project appraisal procedures, financial analysis and risk assessment, and costing. The Project will also assist the MoF to enhance technical knowledge of available financial instruments and alternative sources of financing for capital projects. Special attention will be paid in increasing awareness and knowledge of MoF personnel on the available options for financial instruments offered by development partners (the EU in particular) as well as what may be sourced from the Moldovan and international financial markets.

 

Component 3 – Enhancing the capacities of the line ministries in management and implementation of projects financed from external sources.

Under the third Component the Project will reach out to selected line ministries (primarily those benefiting most from external assistance and managing big investment projects) in order to improve skills and capacities in identifying, designing and managing capital investment projects. Organisational reviews of capabilities on the cycle of management of public investment in the selected ministries will be carried out on the basis of PIMA 2019 analysis and recommendations. This will be followed by a series of capacity building interventions including and trainings in project appraisal, financial analysis and risk assessment and costing. Continued on-the-job assistance will be provided to these ministries in the identification, prioritisation, appraisal, costing and design of projects.

 

Component 4 – Enabling the preparation of a pipeline of high quality and financially viable projects.

Under Component 4 of the Project will assist in developing and undertaking standardised and systematic project feasibility studies required for the operation of a ‘Project Pipeline’. This process will adhere to good practice principles set by the PIMA framework and the analysis of the PIMA assessment conducted in Moldova at the end of 2019. At the same time, the Project will assist the MoF in the creation of a ‘Project Pipeline’ process on the basis of a public investment programme incorporated into the mainstream MTBF and Annual Budget process. Special attention will be paid to appraising sizeable capital project proposals that are linked to the EU-Moldova Association Agenda as part of the ‘Project Pipeline’.

 

The European Commission and the Government of Lao PDR signed the Financing Agreement (FA) for the second Single Donor Trust Fund on Public Finance Management Reform (SDTF-II) in September 2018. A mid-term evaluation was commissioned to 4Assist to provide an independent assessment of the programme performance and offer evidence-based insights that would help improve the European Union support in public finance management (PFM). This evaluation is aimed to derive key lessons, and recommend improvements for the remaining period of SDTF-II implementation, as well as the design of future programmes in PFM in Laos.

 

A snapshot of the project on the photos here: our team leader and 4Assist partner, Yiannis Hadziyiannakis made a presentation to over 30 participants joining in from both ends of the planet, from World Bank, Washington DC, from Lao Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Lao Central Bank.

 

The meeting was hosted by EU Delegation to Laos with a foreword by Her Excellency, Ms. Ina Marčiulionytė, Ambassador/Head of the Delegation to Lao PDR.