FAQ-answers

For any official communication and exchange of information on programme or project level, only the diplomatic channel shall be used.

Programme recommends Russian beneficiaries to submit report in eMS covering the period until 24 February 2022. However, the inserted expenditure will not be verified or automatically considered eligible. During the period of suspension of Financing Agreement Estonian Lead Beneficiary will submit final consolidated report without the Russian beneficiary(-ies) expenditure.

Managing Authority has sent notification letters dated 14 April 2022 to Russian Lead Beneficiaries via diplomatic channels and copies of letters have been sent via eMS. Estonian beneficiary will temporarily overtake the Lead Beneficiary role to implement effectively and efficiently own activities and to be able to submit consolidated report(s).

During the period of suspension of cooperation with Russia the role of Lead Beneficiary (LB) in projects with Russian LB is temporarily taken over by Estonian beneficiary in the limits of its own activities and respective reporting procedure.
Relevant information has been provided by the Managing Authority to Russian Lead Beneficiaries via diplomatic channel.

The costs will not be accepted as eligible automatically. However, programme recommends Russian beneficiaries to submit project reports till 24 February 2022.

Programme recommends Russian beneficiaries to submit project reports, including expenditure till 24 February 2022 in eMS. However, please be reminded that these costs will not be verified and certified during the suspension period and till further decisions.

Only changes related to the Estonian beneficiaries’ activities and budget are possible. In case you plan to request any changes in your project, please consult with responsible programme consultant beforehand.

Due to suspension of the Financing Agreement the participation of the Russian beneficiaries and payments to them are suspended from 24 February 2022. The Russian beneficiaries will not get any payments during the suspension period and till further notice.

The updated instruction on Communication and visibility for Estonian beneficiaries is published on Programme website  under section `Project` – `Documents for Beneficiary`.

The Programme will finance activities within the projects which have (is aimed to keep) a purely cross border character and involve at least two beneficiaries, of whom at least one beneficiary shall be from the Republic of Estonia and at least one beneficiary from the Russian Federation.

The core partnership is expected to consist of Estonia-Russia CBC relevant beneficiaries from original projects (ongoing or completed), and if appropriate, a new partner(s) provided that there are clear synergies. New partners outside the partnerships of the existing projects and located in the Programme area are highly recommended and during assessment will be considered as advantage and the additional points will be given.

Partnership can be formed on the basis of one or several projects, project partners from different projects may cooperate. Please note the Programme area requirements as defined in point 1.3 of the Guidelines for the 4^th Call for proposals and the eligibility requirements of the applicants in point 4 of these Guidelines.

The Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) will hold consultations for Applicants and partners of the 4^th Call for proposals to provide support in preparation of application forms.

The consultations will take place online on 5 and 7 October 2021.

To participate, please check the available time schedule HERE and book your time by contacting Programme consultant in JTS Tartu office or an information manager in branch office in Pskov or St.Petersburg (Russia).

JTS contacts are HERE.

Timeline of the 4^th call

NB. The Financing Agreement (FA) which ensures prolongation of the Estonia-Russia CBC Programme for 1 year has been adjusted. The European Commission proposal to amend the FA in written procedure was accepted by the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation. The date of entry into force of the modifications is considered on 5th of August 2021.

That means no more restrictions for 4th call projects contracting.

The project duration is 6 months.

New partners outside the partnerships of existing projects and located in the programme area are highly recommended and during assessment these applications are given the additional points.

Projects Quality assessment grid (Guidelines for the 4^th Call for proposals page 21):

4. Partnership relevance and experience – Max 10 (weight/share: 10%)
4.2 The project partnership brings newcomers to the programme

When giving an interview to print media or television or radio about the project the partner must make all efforts to ensure the reflection of the financial support of the Estonia-Russia CBC Programme and project title in publication, whenever possible. It is understandable that Programme logo and/or disclaimer, statement cannot be required to a free of charge publications.

Links to or screen shots of the project’s media coverage must be included in the progress report in order to inform the Programme authorities about the progress of project and, if necessary, those publications could be forwarded to the Programme authorities, DG REGIO on request.

If the name of the Programme/project is not mentioned in the video interview, one option is to display the visual identity (roll-up, info plaque, banner, etc) of the Programme, project in a scene.

The need for extra staff has to be well justified and related to project planned activities and in this case savings from the budget can be used for it. Before submitting the request for change, it is recommended to consult with JTS.

When speaking about project on live radio broadcast, the Programme co-financing including enumeration of participating countries should be mentioned. Website of the Programme can be also provided. In case the audio material is recorded before broadcast the partners shall mention the project and Programme and make all the efforts to stress importance of keeping this information in the broadcast.

The fund is given for the implementation of project activities for this concrete project. Purchase of equipment on final stage of project for future needs will not be eligible. Purchase of equipment is possible only for implementation of project activities during the project life. If the equipment is needed in case of transferring of planned physical events to online events, justification of the need of the equipment should be provided. As an option renting of the equipment for the online event can be done.

It depends on the project needs, what solutions the project will propose to achieve planned outcomes and results.  The savings can be used for organizing online events or mirror events. The money can be re-allocated to additional or supplementary activities which will enrich or promote the project planned results. The main purpose of usage of savings should be better achievement of project results.

In COVID-19 situation Programme considers eligible the purchase of two adjacent seats for each person for travel of project staff by the public transport to project/programme events.

The costs should be reported in eMS with comment “COVID-19”.

Within the process of the project’s budget preparation for consistency purposes audit costs are planned for each period taking into consideration provisional assessment of  the project’s costs to be incurred in the period, in understanding that audit procedure will be actually carried and relevant costs will be reported in the next period.
Only one exception.
Audit procedure of the final period will be carried outside the time frame of this period, but should be included in the report for the final period.

According to the Programme’s rules projects’ costs are reported in the months when they were incurred, i.e. when services provided/goods were delivered, with these facts being proved with act of delivery (акт сдачи/приёмки), applying currency exchange rate established by the European Commission for the month of act signing. Same approach is to be followed for audit costs reporting. Audit costs of the 1st period are to be included in the financial report for the 2nd period using exchange rate of the corresponding month and so on. This approach requires no change of initially planned allocations for audit by periods.

The programme level rules and guidelines remain unchanged as regards to the staff costs calculation and reporting in the situation of COVID-19 outbreak. It means that beneficiaries should report the staff costs as they have usually done and have the responsibility to prove the eligibility of costs.

The programme level rules and guidelines remain unchanged as regards to the staff costs calculation and reporting in the situation of COVID-19 outbreak. It means that beneficiaries should report the staff costs as they have usually done and have the responsibility to prove the eligibility of costs.

Salary costs for the period when the employee has been paid in full at the time when there was no actual work cannot be considered eligible. The project beneficiary as an employer shall act as any common employer in current situation and follow provisions of the Employment Contract Act in Estonia and Labor code of the Russian Federation in Russia.  With regard to the salaries of the project staff respective legislation must be followed if/then reducing the workload and remuneration. However, holiday pay is eligible because it is calculated on the basis of the time the project staff worked on the project. Programme recommends beneficiaries to be ready to justify  the actual workload done for the project in current situation (use of time-sheets or other relevant fixation of works performed for all types of employment contracts could be helpful).

Direct link(s) to the developed project website/project section should be provided in the consolidated report. It’s recommended that information about project is easily foundable from a partner organization’s landing webpage.

If a separate project website is created, a reference to it must also be on partner`s website.

In Programme opinion situation with COVID-19 does not influence the process of reporting, as the reporting could be done remotely, using the eMS opportunities.

Due to that no prolongations of reporting periods are planned. However, there may be delays and changes in the planned activities due to outbreak of the virus, so those should be reported as deviations. Programme would like to remind, that any delay in partner´ report will cause the delay in consolidated report and this may influence the financial flow of project – the next pre-instalment will be paid later.

Cooperation projects are expected in the fields of education, health, culture, sports, and social services, as well as to facilitate the exchange of experience between local and regional administrations and their departments in various areas, such as e-services and joint planning.

The partner’s co-financing rate of the project is stated in below article of the Guidelines for the 3rd Call for proposal
https://www.estoniarussia.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/3rd_CALL_Guidelines_final_2019-1.pdf
“7.2 CO-FINANCING RATE
Every beneficiary has to co-finance the project with at least 10% contribution of their own part of the project budget. The co-financing sources shall come from source other that the European Union.”

There are no requirements to have relevant amount of money to provide co-financing before the start of the project, the key requirement for the beneficiary is to be self-sufficient to provide co-financing of the project’s activities within the course of implementation and for the period which will last till the final
payment will be received from the Managing Authority.
 

The general approach to this subject is stated in below article of the Guidelines for the 3rd Call for proposals
https://www.estoniarussia.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/3rd_CALL_Guidelines_final_2019-1.pdf

“10.1.3 OWNERSHIP OF THE PROJECT RESULTS
The ownership, title, and intellectual and industrial property rights to the project’s results, reports and other documents relating to it shall be vested in (belong to) the Lead beneficiary, beneficiaries, associates or final recipients. The Lead beneficiary and beneficiaries grant the MA, the European Commission and participating countries the right to use freely and as it sees fit all documents deriving from the project, whatever their form, provided it does not thereby breach existing industrial and intellectual property rights. In case of the transfer of ownership, industrial and intellectual property rights for outputs and results the transfer shall be done according to the national legislation. The sustainability requirements defined in the project should not be jeopardized and transfer of the ownership should not result in a profit for the beneficiaries.

The MA should be notified about changes of ownership of the project results during the implementation period of the project and five years (or the period stated in the state aid rules) after completion of the project.”

In the specific project ownership of the IPR for project’s results and outputs can be vested in the Lead beneficiary, beneficiaries, associates or final recipients according to the written agreement concluded between beneficiaries.

The percentage of administrative costs (indirect costs) is stated in Partnership Agreement for each partner separately. In order to minimize the risk of ineligibility of costs and further potential losses, the auditor/public officer will check for each reporting period whether the reported sum is in line with fixed percentage of indirect expenses and does not exceed the level specified in the Partnership Agreement

To report on business trip by private car internal procedures of organization should be followed in compliance with Programme requirements.

Time sheet template is published on Programme website in the section “Project” – “Documents for Beneficiary”.

All the costs must be reported in euros only. Accountancy of Russian Beneficiary will register and pay costs in roubles. In eMS beneficiaries report only euros, used currency exchange rate and month of exchange rate and sum in roubles shall be reflected in partner’s comment part of the report of the concrete expenditure.

Finding to be reflected in the FLC certificate.

Based on certificate issued by auditor/FLC the decision is made by the Managing Authority. All administrative acts can be appealed.

The monthly accounting exchange rate of the EC in the month during which the expenditure is incurred should be used. For more specific guidance see point 2 “Eligibility of costs” in the Programme Implementation Guidelines.

The cost of purchased refreshments for coffee-break for project event are eligible and have to be reimbursed in line with internal procedures of the organization, including signed list of participants and agenda. Catering must be foreseen in the event agenda otherwise catering costs are not eligible.

Costs of promotional gifts, except those not exceeding EUR 50 per gift clearly related to promotion, communication, publicity or information are eligible.  

Bank fees, charges for financial transactions should have been included in the project application and under office and administrative costs or external expertise and services. If these costs are not foreseen, then changes in the project application should be requested.

An official letter explaining the situation should be submitted together with report. In future in all related documents the reference to the project should be added.

The following documents should be provided for reporting on equipment costs:
– Contract specifying equipment and with clear reference to the project and the Programme
– Invoice with reference to Contract number and date
– Proof of payment
– Act of delivery and receipt

For Russian beneficiaries the date of submission of business trip report (авансовый отчет) is considered as the date of costs incurred for organization. This date should be used for currency exchange rate calculation.

It should be the monthly exchange rate in the month during which the expenditure was incurred. http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/index_en.cfm

The costs shall correspond to actual gross salaries (including wages, employment taxes, social security charges, health insurance and pension contributions etc.). Salaries must not exceed those normally borne by the employer (organisation of the lead beneficiary or beneficiaries) as the case may be, unless it is justified in the application by showing that it is essential to carry out the project. The staff costs should be comparable with the salaries on the market and have to be calculated based on national legislation requirements and principles.

Different hourly rates in the frame of the same employment contract are not allowed (for part-time working a separate contract must be concluded).

Beneficiary can hire a necessary specialist under a separate contract either job or service contract.  Those costs had to be planned in the project application. In case of service contract these costs have to be budgeted under the Budget Heading 5 “External expertise and services”. In case of job contract costs to be budgeted under the Budget Heading 1 “Staff costs”.

The first period starts from the implementation period starting date as stipulated in the signed Grant Contract and lasts for 6 months. The beginning of implementation is reflected in eMS under the “start date”.  The next reporting periods could be checked under the section “Workplan” – “Define Periods” in eMS.

Yes, reported costs should be incurred during the reporting period and paid out before submission of the interim report in eMS. If not paid before submission of the report the costs should be reported in the next reporting period.

Programme Communication and Visibility Guidelines is elaborated in line with the requirements provided by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. http://economy.gov.ru/wps/wcm/connect/25da76fc-fcf9-40b0-8f5a9319d211618c/recommend.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=25da76fc-fcf9-40b0-8f5a9319d211618c

At the moment there is no procedure for financial corrections. In case of breaking the eligibility rules 100% of expenditure is not eligible.  

Most likely the planned change is related to minor change in activities and its timeline with no budgetary implication provided that budget heading limits are observed in accordance with approved Full Application.

If you plan to make a minor change or major modification in your project, it is recommended to consult and inform JTS before submitting your request.

The procedure is described in “THE CHECK-LIST FOR CONTROLLERS/AUDITORS” attached.

“Office and administration” is eligible cost, but it’s indirect.

Indirect costs may be calculated on a flat rate of up to 7% of eligible direct costs, excluding costs incurred in relation to the provision of infrastructure, provided that the rate is calculated on the basis of a fair, equitable and verifiable calculation method.

That means that all direct eligible costs (which are in the budget headings: staff costs, travel and accommodation, external expertise and services, equipment) are summarized and 7% of this sum might be the administrative costs (budget heading “Office and administration”). 

In Partnership Agreement administrative costs shall be presented with 2 decimals after comma (e.g. 5,00%).

Annexes 5, 6 and 7 should be prepared on partner-based principle and in order to have smoother process of Administrative eligibility check the current documents can be supplemented with number, title of the project and name of concrete partner (information to be listed below the number of concrete Annex).

Those amendments are not considered as changes in templates.

Technical documentation shall be submitted electronically by uploading it to the eMS as attachment (1 file up to 50 MB).

In case the size of each file exceeds 50 MB the documents to be uploaded in the Programme cloud storage. JTS will provide access to this storage by request from the project. (Guidelines for the 1^st Call for proposals chapter 8.2.2).

The Full Application Form and documents listed in Chapter 8.2.1 of the Guidelines for the 1^st Call for proposals in points 6, 7, 17 and 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18  (if applicable) should be submitted electronically via eMS environment by the set deadline.

The documents in points 2-5 and 8 (if applicable) of chapter 8.2.1 should be submitted as originals.  

Digitally signed documents presented by Estonian partners via eMS are considered as originals.   In this case no paper version of the enumerated Annexes from EST partners is needed.
Russian partners should submit documents both on paper (signed, dated and stamped, if applicable) and scanned versions to be attached in eMS.
Documents should be presented in one envelope in paper form from All RUS partners either to Main Office in Tartu or Branch office in St. Petersburg or Branch office in Pskov. It is kindly recommended  to deliver original documents from RUS partners by hand.

In order to evaluate financial sustainability of SMEs and NGOs a table for analyzing economic performance data can be asked for submission (Chapter 8.2.1. Point 19). Provided data will be analyzed during the assessment of full applications (Guidelines for the 1^st Call for proposals chapter 7.2).

The economic performance data will be requested and respective form provided via eMS during the administrative eligibility check, if applicable. Data may be requested from the Lead Applicant and the partners.

These costs are to be included under Budget Heading 5 – EXTERNAL EXPERTISE & SERVICES. To choose concrete service provider (organization or expert) the applicable procurement procedure has to be followed according to the legal status of the beneficiary. In case service provider is natural person, please be aware that travel costs of expert shall be included in the costs of the contract. No limits do exist for expert’s country/region of origin.

Every year Programme will organize Annual event basing on rotating principle between countries where participation of the projects is very appreciated. In addition to that JTS will organize similar seminars on project implementation issues (audit, procurement, reporting etc.) in both countries upon need but not less than once a year. It is a reason why JTS recommends to plan participation costs in those events in the Project budget (approximately 2-3 per year). For the beneficiary’s staff and representatives of the associates these costs are to be planned under Budget Heading 2 “TRAVEL & ACCOMMODATION”.
In case Project organizes other types of events (educational excursion, e.g.) costs of participants shall be listed under budget heading which better corresponds to chosen activity.  – If project procures a service from external supplier to organise the trip the costs to be laid out under Budget Heading 5 “EXTERNAL EXPERTISE & SERVICES”.

If no contract to be concluded and participants will be directly reimbursed for incurred costs (in case it is allowed by national legislation) – then expenses to be planned under Budget Heading 2 “TRAVEL & ACCOMMODATION”.

In case your project´ technical documentation file size exceeds 50MB we kindly ask you to approach the JTS in order to get access to our cloud storage. For that please provide number of your project, contact data of one person to whom the access should be granted (name, surname and e-mail) and send the request till 8 February 2018 to e-mail address: [email protected]

Costs of Associated partners have to be reflected in the partner´ budget the Associated partners are associated to. To ensure transparency of budget JTS recommends to establish a separate budget line “Associated partner´s cost” under Budget Heading Travel & Accommodation.

NB! In case travelling outside the Programme territory is foreseen in the project for Associated partners, costs shall be planned under separate line within this separate budget line “Associated partner´s cost”.
The proper justification for travels of the Associated partners should be provided in the text of the Project’s FAF.

Associates form Latvia and Finland may be reimbursed for costs paid for external expertise procured for the project needs during project implementation. Those costs should be reflected in the partner´ budget the Associated partners are associated to, under the Budget Heading External expertise & services. The agreement about reimbursing cost shall be conducted between the Partner and Associated partner and agreement to grant access to relevant procurement documents shall be made.

These items well fit to the Budget Heading 3 – EQUIPMENT as supplies,
see reference to  Guidelines for Project Applicants.
______________________________________________________________

Estonia-Russia Cross Border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020

Guidelines for Project Applicants, 1st Call for proposals, page 39

Heading 3 – EQUIPMENT

Costs for purchase or rent of equipment (new or used) and supplies are eligible, if these items are specifically needed for the purposes of the implementation of the project, are listed in the approved project budget, correspond to market prices and are purchased following the relevant procurement procedures.

Please note: Used equipment cannot be originally bought by public funds (another project etc.). The price of the used equipment is lower than for same new equipment. The technical specification of the equipment met the applicable requirements of rule of origin (the declaration of origin of the equipment has to be provided etc.).

The applicant is asked to provide a breakdown (cost estimation) of costs for equipment in the Application Form. Therefore, please make sure that all cost items of equipment are listed.  Every co-financed piece of equipment must comply with the information and visibility rules.

The Statutes or Articles of Association of the applicant organisation and of each project partner organisation can be submitted in national language, may be signed by authorized person and stamped.

This obligation does not apply to public bodies.

Such recommendation is based on the Programme’s concern (in line with others) about Project’s results sustainability and visualization.

E.g.:
1. It can be organization, which will in the after-Project period use products developed by the project
2. Provide promotion of the Project’s products/results on the wider geographical scale in the Programme’s area.

All  costs  reported  to  the  Programme  are  subject  to  verification  of  expenditures. Declared costs have to be examined every 6 months. The verification of expenditure of Lead beneficiary and beneficiaries which are registered and located in Estonia will be performed by INTERREG Programmes Supervision Unit of Ministry of Finance of Republic of Estonia.

The  Lead  beneficiary  and  beneficiaries  which  are  registered  and  located  in  Russian Federation have to subcontract an auditor who will provide expenditure verification service. The indicative costs of expenditure verification may be up to 5% of the costs sum to be verified.

Details on Verification of the Project’s Expenditures are given on pages 54-55 of the Guidelines for Project Applicants 1st Call for proposals, Estonia-Russia Cross Border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020.

The auditor who will provide expenditure verification service for the Lead  beneficiary  and  beneficiaries  which  are  registered  and  located  in the Russian Federation have to be approved by MA either before signing the Grant Contract or before the Lead beneficiary’s request for the initial pre-financing to the MA.

The minimum Work Packages are WP-Management, WP-Core Activity and WP-Communication and Visibility. In case there are works, services related to construction, infrastructure foreseen the WP-Investment to be added and WP-Preparation in case preparatory works for the project are carried out (expenditure in amount of EUR 1000 are to be included in PSF and FAF).

No specific proportions are set on project budget allocation between WPs, it depends on the list of planned activities and outputs needed to achieve the objectives of the project. Please note, same activities are not to be repeated in different WPs to escape double financing.

WP Management – includes activities related to project management on the strategic and operational levels (incl. staff costs, reporting, audit, project monitoring and evaluation, etc.).
WP Core Activity – includes all so-called „soft activities“, as well competences development and capacity building of the project participants.

No requirements on the minimum percentage of the total project budget to be allocated to the WP Communication and Visibility are established by the Programme.

Please note that visibility of the Programme’s co-financing by the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation in line with co-financing from the European Commission should be ensured by beneficiaries in all project’s materials, outputs produced by the project.

WP Communication and Visibility should include activities described in the Information and Communication Plan of the project. Content of specific list of activities depends on the nature of the project, chosen communication strategy. Specific requirements for visualization of the project and Programme are laid down in Communication and Visibility Guidelines for Implementation of Projects https://www.estoniarussia.eu/documents-for-beneficiary/. In particular, general information about project and its progress are to be published on the websites of the Lead Beneficiary and Beneficiaries. The Programme logo should be placed on all printed materials (other requirements depend on the type of publication). As the minimum – preparation and publishing of two press-releases, in the beginning and in the end of the project, in case of investment projects also establishment of display  panels and commemorative plaques.

Please note that visibility of the Programme’s co-financing by the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation in line with co-financing from the European Commission should be ensured by beneficiaries in all project’s materials, outputs produced by the project.

The Application form and Logical Framework have to be in line with each other.

Assumptions – factors outside the project management’s control that may impact on outcome-impact (outcomes) and output-outcome linkage (outputs and activities). If formulated as negative statements, assumptions become ‘risks’.

Audit is to be carried out each 6 months of the project implementation (i.e. 4 times within the 24 months period). Audit of Estonian partners will be carried out centrally by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Estonia. For Russian partners relevant sums for audit procurement are to be planned in partner’s budgets. In the Guidelines for the 1^st Call for proposals point 10.6.1 Reporting requirements and deadlines it is formulated following way “Interim reports by Beneficiary(ies) have to be submitted in eMS not later than 1 month after the end of each reporting period (6 months)”.

Please NOTE: the detailed budget provided in Full Application Form may differ from the preliminary budget provided in Project Summary Form up to 10%, except in case of changes requested by the JMC after evaluation of Project Summary Form.

2^nd Restricted Call for proposals will be opened on 10 January 2018 with the deadline for submission of Project Summary Forms on 7 March 2018.
2^nd Call is open only under Thematic Objective 6 specific area “Fostering shared actions in risk management and a readiness to cope with environmental disasters”.
The allocated Programme funds for this call is EUR 870 000 and the maximum grant per project is EUR 400 000.

Due to Administrative reform in Estonia many municipalities have merged and changed the titles. From 4 January 2018 Partner related information fields in eMS are open for changes. Please be aware, that change in partnership is only allowed as a result of Administrative reform in Estonia (or JMC recommendation) and has to be justified in eMS field „Partnership description“ and confirmed by respective partners´ letter in attachment part of the eMS.

The Guidelines for Large Infrastructure Project Applicants with changes approved via JMC written procedure on 26 May 2017 (further – Guidelines) chapter 8.2.7 PROCUREMENT (TENDERING) says:
“Project Lead beneficiaries and beneficiaries from Estonia, as well as Russian Federation public entities, must follow their national procurement legislation”.

Agreement on financing and implementation of Cross-Border Cooperation Programme “Estonia-Russia” 2014-2020 signed on 29 December 2016 between the European Union, Government of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Estonia” Annex I “General Conditions” in Article 6 “Procurement” stipulates:

“6.2. Where the beneficiary is a Public Entity established in the Russian Federation in accordance with Article 1 or a legal entity established in the Russian Federation which is subject to national procurement legislation, it shall apply the legislation of the Russian Federation.”

Art 9(1) of Regulation 236/2014 lists the tenderers, applicants and candidates from the countries which are eligible for cooperation with third countries.

In addition to above set, art 9(2) of Regulation 236/2014 stipulates that tenderers, applicants and candidates from non-eligible countries or supplies from a non-eligible origin may be accepted as eligible by the Commission in the case of:

(a) countries having traditional economic, trade or geographical links with neighbouring beneficiary countries; or

(b) urgency or the unavailability of products and services in the markets of the countries concerned, or in other duly substantiated cases where application of the eligibility rules would make the realisation of a project, programme or action impossible or exceedingly difficult.

To sum it up – Guidelines does not in any way replace obligations and provisions set out in respective EU, national legislation and Financing agreement. Please note, that in case of any doubt the provisions set there prevail.

The Regulation 236/2014 can be found here.

To print the application form you first have to click „Save Phase 1 As Pdf File“. Saved file will appear under „Generated files“ (it might take a few minutes). Then you can open .pdf file and print it out.

In the Letter of intent please  state the total indicative budget amount of your organization what is planned in the project, including the co-financing of the Programme and your organization (in euros).

In accordance with the Guidelines, s.8.1.4, Intent Letter(s) should be submitted by the Applicant as original in electronical form with the digital signature in case of the Estonians or as original in paper form in case of the Russians.

In case Estonian Applicant submits an Intent Letter with digital signature (as original), then Russian partner(s) submits both versions: scanned Intent Letter(s) in electronical folder (all Project partners’ Intent Letters should be in one electronical folder) and original in paper form in one envelope by mail or by hand-delivery to JTS or Branch Office.

Small and medium size enterprises can act as a partner/beneficiary in the Estonia-Russia CBC Programme with some restrictions:
– SMEs cannot act as the only partner from the participating country (Chapter 4 of the Guidelines for the 1st Call for proposals).
– SMEs cannot act as the applicant (lead beneficiary) of the project (Chapter 7.2 of the Guidelines for the 1st Call for proposals).
– Participation of SME is allowed only under TO1 Business and SME development.

Small and medium size enterprises (SME) can act as a partner/beneficiary in the Estonia-Russia CBC Programme with some restrictions:
– SMEs cannot act as the only partner from the participating country (Chapter 4 of the Guidelines for the 1st Call for proposals).
– SMEs cannot act as the applicant (lead beneficiary) of the project (Chapter 7.2 of the Guidelines for the 1st Call for proposals).
– Participation of SME is allowed only under TO1 Business and SME development.

Investments are financed only in case they are necessary for reaching the results of the project and the Programme, including delivering a cross-border impact and benefits.

Technical documentation related to the infrastructure/investment works shall be submitted to the programme at the stage of Full Application Form that provides circumstantial evidence that design and construction works should be divided in the framework of one project.

In addition, realistic character of project outputs/results and its possible achievement within given resources – i.e. time, partners, budget and other resources will be assessed under award criterion of FAF (point 3.2.).

The structure of Feasibility Study for projects with investment component could be as following:

1. Introduction (up to 5 pages)
2. Overview of object (incl. history, description of existing situation and problem, location and ownership, previous preparatory development activities)
3. Operational model/ idea of object (incl. need and corresponding objective of development, expected results and impact in case of implementation of project, project solution, clients of object, organisation and project team)
4. Competition analysis (main competitors in the market, their share, advantages of competitors, advantages of partner)
5. Sustainability analysis (which income from which sources will cover the costs of object in long term perspective)
6. Financial/ cost-benefit analysis (incl. discount rate and the forecasts of macro indicators, scenarios, investment, operating income and costs, etc.; if clients will be charged for using the services at object, then use special table for calculations (provided by the Programme) concerning the operating profit of the investment
7. Marketing analysis (size of market, growth rate, profitability trends, marketing channels)
8. Socio-economic analysis (incl. overall economic environment, possible new investments emerging as a result of current project, direct and indirect impact on employment, new workplaces to be created, environmental protection, etc.)
9. Risk analysis (possible risks and consequences related to project implementation and achievement of expected impact; ways of managing the risks)
10. Summary

Using this structure is highly recommended by the Programme. In case the project partner orders the Feasibility study from independent contractor the additional independent quality review is not requested. In case partner composes Feasibility study by itself, the independent quality review has to be provided. The independent quality review has to follow the same structure as Feasibility study and to evaluate how and to which extend the provided review corresponds to the proposed content of Feasibility study.

Detailed budget provided in Full Application Form may differ from the preliminary budget provided in Project Summary Form up to 10%, except in case of changes requested by the JMC after evaluation of Project Summary Form.

No substantial changes are recommended between Budget Headings as well.

NGOs that are established and have their legal address in the Programme area can act as an Applicant (Lead Beneficiary).

Each Interim Report and Final Report has to be audited. Reporting period is 6 months.

Lump sum of 1000 EUR is eligible for preparation costs incurred before submission of the Project Summary Form. These costs are limited to travel and subsistence costs of the staff involved in the project preparation.

Only awarded projects will be able to claim the reimbursement of the costs incurred before submission of the Project Summary Form.

Employees can be employed either full-time or part-time for the project. If staff is not working full time for the project, percentage of involvement should be indicated in the description of the costs.

Eligible costs are related to actual gross salaries including social security charges, compulsory taxes and other remuneration-related costs.

Staff costs are eligible only if they are sufficiently justified and documented in beneficiary document recording system and accountancy according to national legislation and internal procedures of concrete beneficiary

More information is available under Chapter 10.2, point 10.1.2. heading 1 (staff).

National, regional or local authorities and their associations are eligible. More information is available under Chapter 4.

The rule of non-profit is essential in the calculation of the final amount of grant. Projects have to follow non-profit rule during its execution period of the project.

All beneficiaries shall actively cooperate in the development and implementation of projects. In addition, they shall cooperate in the staffing and financing of projects. Each beneficiary shall be legally and financially responsible for the activities that it is implementing and for the share of the Programme funds that it receives. The specific obligations as well as the financial responsibilities of the beneficiaries shall be laid down in the partnership agreement.

More description can be found in Chapter 10, point 10.1.2.

Project Lead beneficiaries and beneficiaries must follow their national procurement legislation.

The project budget has to be in line with the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

PRAG rules may be followed as an example of sound financial management.

Presentations will be published on the programme web-site after holding all three seminars in Viljandi (24-25 January), Pskov (7-8 February) and St. Petersburg (20-21 February).

The main results of the project should be linked to the programme result indicator and their contribution to be described.

The achievement of programme result indicator will be evaluated at the end of the programme by conducting respective survey by the programme.

Flat rate is calculated on a basis of a fair, equitable and verifiable calculation method. Methods should relate to either statistical data/similar objective means or certified or auditable historical data of the beneficiary or its usual cost accounting practices.

Flat rate costs shall not be confirmed by supporting documents.

Own contribution has to come from partner budget and be paid from partner`s account. Sources of own contribution can be different and shall come from source other that the European Union.

Contributions in kind are not eligible.

Each project must have own contribution of at least 10% of the total eligible costs. With that, every beneficiary except of SMEs (small and medium enterprises) has to co-finance the project with at least 10% contribution of their own part of the project budget.

For the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) participating in the project from the Russian Federation the maximum co-financing from the Programme cannot exceed 50% of the total eligible costs for respective project partner.

In case of participation of the SME from the Republic of Estonia, the Programme co-financing rate shall be in the line with State aid regulations.

Yes, the number of partners is not limited and should be in accordance with needs and objectives of the project.

In order to be eligible for a grant, the applicant and the project partner(s) must be one of the following:
1) national, regional and local public authority;
2) association formed by one or several national, regional or local authorities;
3) public equivalent body (any legal body governed by public or private law):
a. established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;
b. having legal personality;
c. is financed by national, regional or local authorities.
4) Other bodies that are governed by public legal acts, or which are subject to management supervision by those bodies, or which have an administrative, managerial or supervisory board more than half of whose members are appointed by national, regional, or local authorities, or by other bodies which are governed by public legal acts (such as, for example, municipal and national enterprises, trade unions, medical institutions, museums, etc.)
5)Associations formed by one or several bodies governed by public legal acts as defined under point 3 of this section above;
6) NGOs and other non-profit making bodies;
7) Educational organisations (schools, preschool institutions, vocational schools, colleges, institutes, universities);
8) Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) (only under TO 1).

Technical documentation for (re)-construction works has to be provided in line with the national building legislation. Building permission (if applicable and available) should be submitted with Full Application.

The latest date for signing the Grant Contract is 30 June 2019. The project duration cannot exceed 31 December 2022.

The information seminars aiming to provide information on the Programme‘s requirements will be organized in the eligible Programme regions of Estonia and Russia. Detailed time schedule of information events will be available on the Programme website.

The term “Applicant” means the body submitting the package on behalf of project partnership of documents necessary when submitting a proposal. In case of project award Applicant becomes a Lead beneficiary.

“Project partner” is the body participating in the development of the project application, signing the Partnership Statement. In case of project award Project partner becomes a Beneficiary.

The “Lead Beneficiary” is a legal person with whom a grant contract is signed. The responsibilities of Lead Beneficiary are described in  Guidelines for Call for Proposals.

The “Beneficiary” is a participant in the project, legally and financially responsible for implementation of part of the activities, in accordance to the Application Form and to the Partnership Agreement signed with the Lead beneficiary.

The official working language of the Programme is English. Project Summary and in second phase the Full Application shall be filled in English, Grant Contracts shall be concluded in English, all official documentation and communication related to the implementation of projects should be in English.

Interpretation and translation costs foreseen during the project implementation can be included in the budget of the project.

Strategic objectives are supported by four thematic objectives (TO) based on a socio-economic and environmental analysis of the Programme area, thematic seminars, and input from potential beneficiaries:

• Business and SME development (strategic objective A, TO1)
• Promotion of border management and border security, mobility and migration management (strategic objective A,B,C, TO10)
• Environmental protection, climate change mitigation and adaptation (strategic objective B, TO6)
• Support to local and regional good governance (strategic objective A,B,C, TO5)

The thematic objectives, in turn, aim at supporting specific areas within each strategic objective:

-TO1 Business and SME development

• Increasing SME development and entrepreneurship by fostering cross-border business contacts and the development of services and products
• Increasing SME competitiveness and entrepreneurship by fostering cooperation between public, private and R&D sectors
• Improving the business environment through the development of business support measures and infrastructure

-TO10 Promotion of border management and border security, mobility and migration management

• Increasing the throughput capacity of existing border crossing points through the development of BCP infrastructure and border management procedures
• Increasing the throughput capacity of existing border crossing points by refurbishing and improving border crossing roads and supporting infrastructure

-TO6 Environmental protection, climate change mitigation and adaptation

• Improving the biodiversity of joint natural assets
• Improving the quality of shared water assets by reducing their pollution load (including improving wastewater treatment facilities, improving solid (household and industrial) waste management and relevant facilities, and reducing pollution that is caused by the agricultural sector
• Increasing awareness of environmental protection and efficient use of energy resources
• Fostering shared actions in risk management and a readiness to cope with environmental disasters

-TO5 Support to local and regional good governance

• Improving cooperation between local and regional authorities and their sub-units
• Improving cooperation between local and regional communities

There are three strategic objectives under the Programme:

• A- Promotion of economic and social development in regions on both sides of the common borders;
• B- Addressing common challenges in environment, public health, safety and security;
• C- Promotion of better conditions and modalities for mobility of persons, goods and capital.

Each project shall involve at least two partners, of whom at least one project partner shall be located in the Programme area in Estonia and at least one project partner located in the Programme area in Russian Federation.

In order to be eligible for a grant, the applicant and the project partner(s) must be one of the following:
1) national, regional and local public authority;
2) association formed by one or several national, regional or local authorities;
3) public equivalent body (any legal body governed by public or private law):
a. established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;
b. having legal personality;
c. is financed by national, regional or local authorities.
4) Other bodies that are governed by public legal acts, or which are subject to management supervision by those bodies, or which have an administrative, managerial or supervisory board more than half of whose members are appointed by national, regional, or local authorities, or by other bodies which are governed by public legal acts (such as, for example, municipal and national enterprises, trade unions, medical institutions, museums, etc.)
5)Associations formed by one or several bodies governed by public legal acts as defined under point 3 of this section above;
6) NGOs and other non-profit making bodies;
7) Educational organisations (schools, preschool institutions, vocational schools, colleges, institutes, universities);
8) Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) (only under TO 1).

The eligible territories of the Programme are following:

• Estonia: Kirde-Eesti, Lõuna-Eesti, Kesk-Eesti; adjoining area: Põhja-Eesti including Tallinn
• Russia: St. Petersburg, Leningrad and Pskov regions.