Workshop on programs and funds available to the private sector was held at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, organised by the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in Belgrade.
Prof. Dr Petar Uskoković, the Dean, welcomed the attendants on behalf of the faculty which implements the project “Implementation of the Industrial Emissions Directive in Serbia”, within which the workshop was organised. He emphasised that the main goal of the workshop was to better acquaint representatives of the companies with current entrepreneurship support programmes and requirements of each individual programme, as well as to get familiar with all key stakeholders in the process of appplying for funds, such as scientific institutions, independent experts and civil sector.
The Head of the Department for Integrated Permits of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ms. Nada Lukačević, stressed the efforts of industry representatives in the preparation of the Draft Negotiating Position for Chapter 27.
Further on, in the introductory part of the workshop, project leader, Dr Bojana Vukadinović, presented the IED Serbia project, and its implementation plan with a special emphasis on the third component, within which the meeting of the companies and potential funds was organised. She also announced that the project team will in the next phase provide technical assistance for improvement of the three selected project ideas related to compliance with the requirements of the Industrial Emissions Directive, to the level of readiness for submitting an application for funds.
Тhe coordinator of the environmental protection sector of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Dušan Stokić, underlined the importance of the project in defining transitional deadlines in negotiations with the European Commission to meet all the requirements of the Industrial Emissions Directive.
In the main part of the Workshop, Ms. Željka Dukić presented in detail the programmes “Eureka” and “Horizon 2020” on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. Since she is also the National Contact Point for the “Horizon 2020” programme, the industry representatives also had the opportunity to hear both statistics related to this programme and detailed information regarding the preparation and reporting of the projects for this programme.
Mr. Dane Atanasković from the Innovation Fund, presented the programmes for support to technological innovations of this institution, and above all, the Early Development Programme for new enterprises and the Innovation Co-financing Programme.
In the second part of the Workshop, IPARD programmes of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management were presented. Mr. Slobodan Živanović, leader of the Ministry’s Programming Group, presented the accredited measures of the IPARD II programme, as well as the new sectors covered by it. The National Programme for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship of the Ministry of Economy was presented by Ms. Biljana Savković, and the support programs of this Ministry financed by the European funds, were presented by Ms. Miona Popović Majkić.
The programmes funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – EBRD, were presented by Mr. Dragoljub Gajić and Mr. Dejan Tonić. Mr. Gajić, the manager, presented the Green Innovation Voucher Programme and results achieved in the current implementationphase. The main part of the workshop was closed by Mr. Dušan Ankić, local technical consultant, who presented the Support Programme for improving the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in the Western Balkans.
In the conclusion of the Workshop, Ms. Biljana Jezdić, technical expert of the project IED Serbia, presented the Questionnaire for companies, purpose of which is to efficiently overview the needs of the industry in order to define common problems and possible provision of technical assistance in resolving them within the project, as previously announced.
Presentations from the meeting at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce can be found here.
The IED Serbia project is implemented by the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in Belgrade in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection with the financial assistance of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the support of the Swedish Embassy in Belgrade.