OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE
OKTÓBER 6. UTCA 12, H-1051 BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (36 1) 882 3100, FAX (36 1) 882 3101
MAKING THE MOST OF EU FUNDS FOR ROMA
And
Information
Project: Supplementary funds for Structural Funds Projects
Project Term: 1 December 2010- 1 August 2012
Grant Recipient: Foundation Open Society Institute Sofia – FOSIS, Bulgaria
1. General Background
The Open Society Institute, as a partner in the Decade of Roma Inclusion and as a leader
in mobilising and building the capacity of Roma communities, launched in 2007 "Making the
Most of EU Funds for the Roma". This Initiative aims to mainstream the objectives of the Decade
of Roma Inclusion into the social cohesion programming under the EU Structural Funds and
channel resources from the Funds into Roma inclusion activities. Through its network of partners
and institutions, and this new Initiative, OSI intends to maximize the use of available resources
and funds by governments in the region and to help major European Structural and other
European Funds “flow” to local governments, civil society and private sector actors, who have
the expertise needed to contribute the social inclusion of the Roma in all aspects of civic life.
The Supplementary Funds for Structural Funds Projects is a component of the Making
the Most initiative which is meant to reinforce the impact of Structural Funds (SF) projects on
inclusion of Roma through support for projects in the implementation phase. This intervention
provides funding to structural funds beneficiaries to partially or completely cover costs which are
central to achieving the goals of the project but are not covered from the structural funds or to
assist beneficiaries who cannot afford to advance funds to finance project activities. In Bulgaria,
the supplementary funds intervention will also provide bridge loans to municipalities and/or other
organizations that experience shortages in funds due to the late reimbursement of costs by
national authorities that pose a serious threat to project implementation.
2. Goals of the Supplementary Funds Intervention
The Supplementary Funds intervention is aimed at promoting innovative and cross-sectoral
projects for Roma inclusion through the provision of supplementary funding to partially or
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completely cover costs which are central to achieving the goals of the project but are not provided
from the structural funds. The types of costs which are relevant from OSI point of view are:
3.

Costs outside the priority axis from which the project is funded. One project can only be
funded from one priority axis so if that axis is not covering certain types of costs, they are
not eligible even if they are absolutely vital for the project success.

Costs, which are officially ineligible such as loans and/or interest on debt, the cost of
guaranties provided by banks or other financial institutions; the leasing contracts
expenditure – fees, administrative fees and insurances; commission fee and currency
losses; purchase of second hand equipment, etc.

Co-financing requirements: National authorities provide some co-financing with regard
to projects relevant for the Roma, but they also tend to ask for co-financing from
beneficiaries. The co-financing generally ranges from 2% to 10% though there are also
cases of 0% co-financing. These co-financing ratios are not high in general, but can be
daunting for an NGO or even a small and poor municipality in case of a major project.

Funds to cover risks of late reimbursement.
Supplementary funds services by Foundation Open Society Institute – Sofia
In the scope of the supplementary funds project Foundation Open Society Institute – Sofia
will provide the following services:
3.1. Supplementary funding ( regular grants) for organizations to partially or completely
cover costs which are central for achieving the goals of the projects but are not provided
by structural funds;
3.2. Bridge loans (recoverable grants) to municipalities and/or other organizations that
experience shortages in funds due to the late reimbursement of costs by national
authorities that poses a serious threat to project implementation.
For the distribution of supplementary funds FOSIS will identify Roma inclusion projects
which are in need of supplementary financial assistance from the pool of projects funded
from the structural funds with the assistance of FOSIS under Project Generation Facility
(PGF). In accordance with the grant scheme, FOSIS will propose to MtM individual requests
for supplementary funds and bridge loans progressively as projects applications generated
through the PGF are approved by the national authorities.
4. Organizational and evaluation procedures and activities for the implementation of the
Supplementary Funds component of the Making the Most for Roma Inclusion initiative
For the implementation of the project FOSIS undertakes to implement the following activities:
1.
Dissemination of information. An informative program for the opportunity for covering
non-eligible costs will be targeted both at approved projects supported by PGF and the new
potential PGF clients (NGOs, small municipalities and schools). The dissemination of
information will continue with the support of the regional partners and beneficiaries.
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2.
Development and publishing of ToRs and guidelines and application forms.
The PGF-Bulgaria team will develop and publish guidelines and application forms for
participation in the pilot projects supplementary funding of non-eligible costs initiative at the
web-site of the BGF-Bulgaria. The guidelines will contain brief description of the concept of
operation of the scheme for supplementary funding of non-eligible costs and the application
forms will be similar to the application forms for initial project ideas with an option for additional
explanation of the needs for supplementary funding.
3.
Submission of proposals.
All forms of application - in written through e-mails and in the web-application format, sent
directly to PGF or through the regional partners - will be accepted as eligible in order to facilitate
the process and make the initiative accessible to each project supported by MtM.
4.
Evaluation of proposals.
PGF-Bulgaria will collect, analyze and if needed require additional information from the
applicant to evaluate the proposals based on the project “Making the most of EU Funds for Roma
Inclusion in Bulgaria through Supplementary Funding of Non-Eligible Costs” approved by
LGI/OSI. The National Coordination Committee will perform needs assessment and will
elaborate priorities for provision of PGF support.
All proposals for supplementary and recoverable grants (except with the proposals, which are
considered approved with the project “Making the most of EU Funds for Roma Inclusion in
Bulgaria through Supplementary Funding of Non-Eligible Costs” are subject of approval by
LGI/OSI.
PGF-Bulgaria will conclude agreements with beneficiaries based on the amendment of its
contract with LGI/OSI for each individual grant within the available budget.
5.
Signing of agreements
PGF-Bulgaria will elaborate and negotiate the content of the contracts based on the approved
clients application forms.
Documents required as sine qua non for signing agreements
1. Declaration of agreement for monitoring of the development of the project.
Any project receiving support for the covering of non-eligible costs should also
benefit from the provision of mentoring services.
2. Declaration of honor by legal representative of applicant organisation. The
declaration should be signed by the person legally authorised to sign on behalf of the
applicant organization. The declaration should confirm that all information contained in
the application is correct and that the institution/organisation has the financial and
operational capacity to carry out the proposed project. In case of agreement for
recoverable grants in the declaration there will be also stated that the organization will do
its best to fulfill all financial procedures and requirements related with the funding from
the operational programs in order to assure full reimbursement of amounts spent in
advance, as well as assertion that the recoverable grant will be reimbursed to PGF3
Bulgaria in a month after receiving reimbursement from the respective (operational)
program at the latest. For the projects applying for the grants in the declaration should be
confirmed that the grant is absolutely essential for achieving project goals related to the
equal integration of the Roma for successful project implementation and that the
suggested activities have not been approved by managing authorities due to program
limitation or budgetary restrictions.
6.
Development (upgrading) of detailed account of the type of non-eligible costs to be
covered (see also bullet point in 2. Goals of the Supplementary Funds Intervention).
Based on the permanent overview and analyses of the operational programs PGF-Bulgaria will
develop and upgrade the list of types of non-eligible costs to be covered. All consultants and
regional partners will be informed on the changes in the list in order to encourage potential
applicants to submit project ideas to PGF-Bulgaria and not to be refrained due to the lack of
opportunities to secure funds to cover non-eligible costs.
7.
Monitoring and feed back collection.
PGF will assure that the mentors assigned to each individual project within the mentoring
program will also observe the implementation of supplementary costs program in order to
reassure clear responsibility, focused services, efficiency and effectiveness as well as better
communication with beneficiaries. The beneficiaries of supplementary costs program will be
invited to attend seminars for peer exchange of experience with projects consulted under the PGF
and other good practices identified. PGF will implement both regularity (financial) monitoring,
which focuses on compliance with applicable statutes and regulations and performance
monitoring, which is concerned with relevance, economy, efficiency and effectiveness, on the
other. An integral part of the performance monitoring should be the Roma inclusion both as
process and results form the projects.
5. Approval
FOSIS will grant supplementary funds after written approval by the OSI/Making the Most.
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