2003 discharge: European Agency for reconstruction
PURPOSE : to present the accounts and the financial statement of the European Agency for Reconstruction for the financial year 2003.
CONTENT : this report presents the expenditure and the activities carried out by the Agency in 2003.
The total commitment appropriations in 2003 amounted to EUR 359, 5 million.
The year 2003 has been the fourth year of activity of the centre in Pristina (Kosovo), the third year of activity of the centres of Belgrade (Serbia) and Podgorica (Montenegro) and the second year of activity for the centre in Skopje (fYROM).
Agency-managed programmes follow the orientations of the Country Strategy Papers and Multi-annual Indicative Programme for Serbia & Montenegro and FYROM and principally concentrate on three main areas of intervention. These are: (i) to carry out physical and economic reconstruction (rehabilitation and repair of infrastructure and public utilities, such as energy, housing, water, transport); (ii) to lay the foundation for the development of a market-oriented economy (support to enterprise development, agriculture); and (iii) to support the establishment of democracy, institution building and the rule of law
(strengthening of local administration, NGOs, the media and the judiciary).
In 2003 physical reconstruction needs were still great, and are therefore still being met by EU-funded projects managed by the Agency. However, the Agency has successfully made the shift away from tangible emergency rehabilitation works towards longer-term sustainable development, in promoting a market economy and supporting social development.
By the end of 2003 the Agency was overseeing a total port-folio of EUR 1.9 billion of which 81% contracted and 67.5% disbursed for assistance programmes across its four operational centres.
The Agency’s final budget for 2003 amounted to EUR 358.6 million, from which EUR 331.7 million for assistance programmes and EUR 26.8 million for administrative expenditure.
More specifically, the credits for assistance programmes mentioned above (EUR 331,7 million) include EUR 327.8 million of new EC credits received by the Agency in 2003 for the implementation of the programmes; EUR 62.3 million for Kosovo (from which EUR 16.3 million only put at the disposal at the Agency at the end of December 2003); EUR 220 million for Serbia; EUR 12 million for Montenegro; EUR 33.5 million for FYR Macedonia; EUR 4 million of credits entrusted by other donors (the Danish Government for FYROM).
Beside these credits received in 2003, the Agency also had at its disposal EUR 234.1 million of credits corresponding to programmes from previous years not yet contracted.