Regional utveckling 2

General question: Results related to the intended outcome 2016Question: Summarise results related to the intended outcome (this information will be sent to Open Aid)Answer: Background. The project “Modernization of Local Public Services” aims to further develop regional development policies in Moldova, in particular to increase and ensure that the Regional Development Agencies (RDA) and Regional Development Councils (RDC) have the capacity to carry out their assigned duties of deciding on and executing regional development policies. Sida adopted 8 December 2011 a Decision on Contribution No. 2011-4074, according to which 30 MSEK was allocated for the co-financing of the project implementation during the period December 2011-December 2014. The lessons learned from the ongoing project on regional development were that the created institutions are still too weak to operate without support from donors and further efforts to build capacity and clarify roles and responsibilities are added. The additional contribution draws on previous results and targets specifically the identified remaining shortcomings (further addressed below). A substantial increase in external funding for infrastructure projects has increased the demand of RDAs and LPAs for support in the preparation of coherent and high-quality project documents necessary to bring prioritized investments to the procurement stage. In this context, due to the increased demand for technical assistance, the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction and the Ministry of Economy, inter alias responsible for the EU-financed National Fund for Energy Efficiency, have approached the Swedish Embassy and GIZ, requesting the consideration of additional support to the successful ongoing cooperation for the following areas: -Support to RDAs and Local Public Authorities (LPA) to improve existing project concepts for investments in local public services and develop them to “ready-for-procurement” level; -Increasing the capacities of RDAs and LPAs in organizing public procurements; -Assistance to RDAs and LPAs in quality control and site supervision of the implementation of investments; -Support to RDAs and LPAs in project hand-over, registration and management. As a result, the Embassy decided in February 2014 to contribute with additional 20 MSEK. The support is a continuation of the ongoing capacity building activity. The difference is that until now the project was assisting LPAs in producing sustainable project fiches having sound feasibility assessments behind them, while at this stage it is proposed to help LPAs to prepare for procurement and monitoring and evaluation processes. The progress in the period December 2011-December 2015. The description will cover the reporting on the progress in achieving the key direct results/areas as per commitments included in the original Grant Agreement, as well as on those included in the addendums from February 2014 and August, 2015. The primary aim (objective) of the Project Component promoted by the given Grant was to support regional development institutions and local public authorities in implementing investment projects towards improved local public services delivery. This has been foreseen to be achieved by a stream of activities, which shall contribute to achieving the core benchmarks grouped in 11 key direct results. The progress in achievement of these key results is summarized below: •Key Direct Result 1: Three Operational Plans in the fields of Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings (EE), Water Supply and Sanitation, as well as Solid Waste Management have been drafted Using participatory approach, 8 Regional Sector Programmes (RSPs) for 3 sectors (SWM, WSS and EE in public buildings) and 3 development regions have been developed and approved by the Regional Development Councils in 2014. In addition, with EU Contribution, 3 RSPs in Regional and Local Roads (RLR) for the 3 development regions (North, Centre and South) have been developed and approved by the respective RDCs in March-April 2015. •Key Direct Result 2: The conceptual and organisational capacities in the three Regional Development Agencies North, Centre and South have increased The project provided extensive support to improve the conceptual and organisational capacities of the staff of MRDC and 3 RDAs from Strategic Planning Department and Project Management Department in regional sector planning and programming, as well as projects’ identification, prioritisation and development. RSPs provided a new methodology to identify priority investment projects, as well as an action plan to address the main shortcomings in the sector. Project Development Pathway (PDP) was applied in this sense to underpin the project development processes in all sectors covered by the Action. This has aimed to overcome the many challenges and problems related to infrastructure project development. The PDP is the framework within which a project pipeline is implemented. Taken together, the RSP and PDP approaches to public investment project development have been innovative – both compared to existing practice in Moldova, as well as compared to experience in new EU Member States – but for different reasons and in different aspects. •Key Direct Result 3: At least 96 (32x3) coherent investment project fiches for public infrastructures in the above mentioned areas have been prepared Resulting from RSPs, in total, more than 170 project ideas/fiches were identified and reviewed in EE, SWM and WSS sectors. After initial screening a total of 68 Possible Project Concepts (PPCs) have been proposed for further prioritisation by the sectoral inter-ministerial commissions created by Order of MRDC from 28 August 2014. All projects have been developed according to PDP, using multi-criteria analysis. To date, 40 of them (including projects concepts from regional and local roads sector) worth more than 100 million EUR have been prioritised for further development to the stage of viable project concepts. Some donors, including EU, WB and EIB expressed their interest for further financing some projects in SWM and RLR. •Key Direct Result 4: The conceptual and organisational capacities in the three Regional Development Councils North, Centre and South have increased In relation to this result, advisory support has been offered within MLPS to fostering the role and the involvement of RDCs in the Regional Development decision-making process. Since 2012, the delegated representatives of LPAs, which are members of RDCs, have been involved in the core consultation and decisional stages of the Regional Sector Planning and Programming processes. After the local elections held in June 2015, MLPS project provided support to RDAs in selection of the new RDCs members from the civil society and private sectors, as well as in providing induction to regional development. However, it is worthwhile mentioning although the MLPS invested efforts in enhancing the ownership, roles and responsibilities of RDCs. To date, these structures still do not function effectively and more efforts need to be invested in the revision of normative framework and modus operandi of these structures to make them effective in the promotion of regional development and implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the regional development strategies and projects/programmes. While the organizational set-up will largely remain the same in the second phase of the MLPS project, various programme reviews have recommended a stronger focus on developing the capacity of the Regional Development Councils to play their governance roles more effectively. •Key Direct Result 5: Relevant investment projects for Regional Development have been developed to ready-for-procurement stage (investment funding provided by Germany) In addition to RSPs, the financing provided by the Swedish Government was also used to support activities initiated in relation to the development of the technical documentation for pilot projects’ components funded under the German (Investment) Fund for Regional Development. Under this component, the project development work was conducted in the EE and WSS sectors. As a result of the preliminary analysis of the most feasible projects from WSS (6 investment pilot measures) and EE (2 investment pilot measures out of 14 analysed) sectors were prioritised and selected for technical assistance to further develop documentation in order for the projects to be ready for procurement. After the GIZ Construction Department’s check and approval, the project tender documents were transferred to RDAs and LPAs for further assistance on procurement and implementation supervision stages. •Key Direct Result 6: Projects worth EUR 6 million have been contracted by RDAs with involvement of LPAs in all public tender groups without major shortcomings Following the development of investment measures incorporated in 5 pilot projects to be further funded under the German Fund for Regional Development, MLPS provided support to RDAs and LPAs in organising public procurement activities. The tender procedures and processes for the aforementioned projects were organized by the respective three RDAs (North, Centre and South) and with participation of LPAs. Overall, the tendering procedures and processes were applied/conducted in accordance with the national legislation and in a professional manner, and no major allegations were observed. •Key Direct Result 7: Projects worth EUR 6 million have been implemented/are under implementation by RDAs without major shortcomings Given that the aforementioned projects have been contracted only in the second part of 2015, the level of achievement of this result is low. As of March 2016,,2,167,550 Euro (35%) from the total amount of 6,205,200 EUR for construction works were contracted. The main arguments for the significant delays in contracting the construction works is linked with difficulties in identification of qualified companies according to the project public procurement procedures, poor quality of technical design documents and bill of quantities. The progress in implementation of each pilot project is described in more details in the respective chapter of the report. Implementation of activities related to this result will continue during 2016 – 2018 in the framework of the second phase of MLPS. •Key Direct Result 8: RDAs and LPAs conduct the correct hand-over and registration of implemented investment projects with a combined budget of EUR 6 million In line with the information presented in the previous chapters, given that the aforementioned projects have not been fully implemented yet, this key direct result has not been achieved to date. It is worthwhile mentioning that the project has encountered a number of obstacles in the process of creating a viable legal basis for service management in local public ownership, including movable and immovable property to be transferred to beneficiaries during project implementation. The impediments concerned are related to policy documents mismatch and legislation in the field, but also to the particularity of procedures for implementing such projects. However, related activities planned for the achievement of this result will be carried out in 2016 and 2017 under the second phase of MLPS. •Key Direct Result 9: The management of key assets of selected local public service providers has been improved In all three sectors where GIZ/MLPS is actively involved, support to partners LPAs in the registration of goods, but also in using them in a most appropriate way is planned. In two SWM sector projects the management of key assets has been improved. In SWM, the MLPS project continued to provide assistance to 2 operators established within the project: JSC ‘Salubritate Soldanesti’ and JSC ‘Servicii Salubrizare Floresti’. As a result provided technical assistance both operators from Soldanesti and Floresti managed to extend waste collection services to large area. Thus, JSC ‘Salubritate Soldanesti’ in November 2014 started its activities in 3 villages of Soldanesti rayon and by the end of 2015 extended the services in 12 villages and its foreseen to extend the services in 22 villages by the end of 2016. Regarding JSC ‘Servicii Salubrizare Floresti’, the company started the waste collection services in November 2014 in 2 villages and currently is providing services in 10 out of 12 shareholders of the company. Regarding the WSS projects from Cahul, Riscani and Leova, the support in the management of key assets, including the improved infrastructure as a result of implementation of construction measures is still under development of set of documents that will lead to the reorganization of municipal operator into regional one. •Key Direct Result 10: Improved management of projects financed by the National Fund for Energy Efficiency for LPAs, supported by certified energy auditors Given that the main counterparts, Ministry of Economy, Energy Efficiency Agency and MRDC have not reached an agreement, this support have been withdrawn and the given key direct results have not been achieved to date. As a result of the discussions between the stakeholders EEA, MRDC, GIZ/MLPS in April 2015 sent a request to Sweden Embassy regarding the reallocation of budget in order to support EEA in elaboration of several guides in the field of energy efficiency. Also, MLPS supported participation of Rayon Energy Managers EUREM Course. •Key Direct Result 11: Support to MRDC in the evaluation of the National Strategy for Regional Development (NSRD) 2010-2012, 2013-2015 and development of the new National Strategy for Regional Development for the period 2016-2020 is provided During 2015, MRDC embarked into the process of development of the new National Strategy for Regional Development for the period 2016-2020. The draft NSRD 2016-2020, which was subject to public consultations and review by inter-ministerial committee, was endorsed by the NCCRD and, recently, by the Government. Also, views on the vision of the new NSRD were exchanged with the main donors as well at a High Level Discussion event in October, 2015. Following its approval by the Government, the NSRD 2016-2020 was recommended to be sent to Parliament for its approval by Law. In addition, MLPS provided support to MRDC in developing the draft Action Plan for the NSRD 2016-2020 to be further reviewed and approved by MRDC and Government.