Massive donor support for Kaliningrad 

A new project will equip Kaliningrad to administer the large amounts of donor money being made available to the Russian enclave by the EU and individual countries.
Donor money is raining down on Kaliningrad. A seemingly positive circumstance for this small Russian enclave, which is much poorer than its closest neighbours, Lithuania and Poland. But administration in the Kaliningrad region is not at all geared up to coordinating so many projects or deciding which projects should get the green light.

A project, financed by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, now aims to make Kaliningrad a better recipient and coordinator of donor money.

"The EU has approved a special grant of € 25 million for Kaliningrad over the next three years, and in addition a number of countries are giving bilateral support. With so much money to manage, it is a problem if the regional administration – as is the case today – does not have an overview of what is going on and is not capable of presenting itself as a serious partner to the donors," explains project manager Jesper Karup Pedersen, COWI.

Isolated enclave surrounded by EU

What has prompted so much donor money is the EU enlargement on 1st May this year. Once Lithuania and Poland join the EU, Kaliningrad will become an isolated enclave completely surrounded by EU territory. And this is something that the EU is not comfortable with, because in virtually every area - from economic growth to the fight against crime - Kaliningrad lags far behind the EU.

"Consequently there is a heightened risk of attempted illegal immigration, export of crime and cross-border pollution,” adds Jesper Karup Pedersen.

Plenty of new know-how

The project, carried out by COWI, is aimed in particular at the International Office of the regional administration. The project will provide regular coaching and three training seminars for the staff of the International Office to qualify them to unify the various strategies within the regional administration that exist for certain sectors and for the region as a whole. This will give the office a better overview, enabling it to more easily find matches with potential donors.
Furthermore, the project will enable the development and implementation of a project and donor database covering current and previous projects.

The staff of the International Office will gain extensive new know-how about the way donors work, improving Kaliningrad’s ability to positively influence donors and donor programmes so that the projects implemented are more supportive of the region’s general economic and social development.

Published: 13.02.2004


Facts  
Kaliningrad
The Kaliningrad region - part of Russia, although geographically separated from it – borders Lithuania to the north-east, Poland to the south-east and the Baltic Sea to the west. It has a population of 950,000 and covers an area of about 15,000 km², or roughly one-third the size of Denmark.

The region has had a tumultuous history and has only been part of Russia for 58 years. Up until the end of the Second World War it was part of Germany under the name of Königsberg. After the war the Soviet Union took over the enclave, renaming it Kaliningrad and deporting the original German inhabitants who had not already fled. Today 78 per cent of the inhabitants are Russian, with White Russians, Ukrainians and Lithuanians making up the next largest population groups.