Category: Programme news

Programme Manual full version 0.5 is published. It includes updated information of the criteria for the maximum duration of the projects, and the extended deadlines for contracting and closing of the project actions. Full version 0.5 replaces the previously published versions.

These updates follow the decisions taken by the Joint Monitoring Committee and addressing the procedures agreed in the Joint Operational Document complying with the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/879 on specific provisions for the implementation of programmes as well as funded projects.

Download new manual and its translations here: MATERIAL FOR PROJECTS

Holiday season brings exceptions to the opening hours of our offices and a short break in our services.

Managing Authority office in Lappeenranta is closed for 24.12.-31.12.2021 and our Branch Office in Saint Petersburg is closed for 31.12.2021-07.01.2022.

CBC team wish everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2022!

The South-East Finland – Russia CBC Programme organized its 3rd Annual Event as an on-line event on 8.12.2021.

Annual Events are platforms for the discussions of the results and synergies of the Finnish-Russian cross-border cooperation for the target regions, as well as the means to review on what has already been done for the benefit of the people at both sides of the border. One of the events’ main objectives is to provide also a good overall picture of the impacts gained from the joint financial input of € 77,5 Mio from the European Union, Russia and Finland.

This year, the Cross-Border Cooperation is also affected by the Covid19 -pandemic and due to sanitary instructions, the event was organized online. What we gladly noticed is that our CBC community is strong and together, and the Managing Authority and its branch Office gathered almost 150 attendees and panelists for the joint afternoon.

What we learned?

The event was launched by the presentation of the CBC 2014-2020 Programme’s state of play and insights for the 2021-2027 period. A lot is going on and next two years will be intensive, while complementing funded projects and collecting their results, and simultaneously building capacity bridges to support the efficient launching of the next Programme. All this is done by the support of the Programme’s financing stakeholders European Union, Russia and Finland who all committed themselves for the common programming future in their keynote speeches.

The second session of the event was dedicated for the first completed projects, who were invited to share their results, but also, their experiences of the Cross-Border Cooperation. Based on the five presentations the attitude towards Finnish-Russian partnership in implementing projects is very positive and even the challenging circumstances decreasing face-to-face and on-site meetings, the results are there and so are partners’ eyes on the opportunities in the future programming period.

Event material is made available at Programme website ANNUAL EVENTS .

We hope to meet everyone in person in the 4th edition of the Annual Events.

Good Communication Awards 2021

As part of our Annual Events, the Good Communication Awards are given in recognition of the contributions made by the projects. Awards symbolize transparent and fluent cooperation between the partners, the positive approach towards the Cross-Border Cooperation and the visibility and notability that the projects provide for the Programme and its financiers. Special attention, when selecting the winners in 2021, was given to the demonstrated flexibility and consistency to carry on in the challenging atmosphere caused by the pandemic and restrictions to organize on-site events.

We congratulate the winners. All partners of the winning projects shall receive a Good Communication Award 2021 certificate in January 2022.

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Project website: https://sites.uef.fi/coexist/   
Lead Partner: University of Eastern Finland
Partners: The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, South Karelia division and LUT University from Finland, Interregional charitable public organisation “Biologists for nature conservation” from Russia. 

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The South-East Finland – Russia Programme, and the Karelia and Kolarctic programmes, will use the Jems (Joint electronic monitoring system) for the management of the 2021-2027 Programme. The system, developed by the Interact Programme, shall be installed, hosted and supported based on the service contract between the Managing Authority and the winner of this tendering.

The procurement of the service shall be implemented based on a European Union -level tendering open during 17.12.2021-31.01.2022 (extended due date).

In addition to the website of each of the Programmes, the tender announcement is published at Hilma (public procurement) as well as at the Official Journal of the European Union.

Tendering documents > Hilma – hankintailmoitus 2021-088099

Both meetings were held this week, side-by-side with the 3rd Annual Event of the Programme, and such a combination marks an important milestone summing up the past year.

The Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) of the South-East Finland – Russia CBC 2014-2020 Programme had its thirteenth meeting on 9 December 2021, online. The Committee received information and discussed the progress of the Programme, the state of play in projects’ implementation, results of the first finalized projects, communication and visibility actions and the first draft of the MA’s Annual Report (reporting period 7/2020-6/2021). The JMC approved updates to the Programme Manual to reflect the changes made to the Joint Operational Programme at the end of 2020. The updated Manual will be published on the Programme’s website in January 2022, at the latest. In addition, the meeting had an overview of the programming period 2021-2027 preparations. The next JMC meeting is foreseen in June 2022.

On 10 December 2021, the seventh meeting of the Programming Committee (PC) of the South-East Finland – Russia 2021-2027 Programme was informed about the state of play in regulative and legal processes, financial allocations to the 2021-2027 Programme and preparation of the Financing Agreement. Indicative financial envelope will top-up the 2014-2020 Programme, which is very positive indicator to increase and widen the level of Cross-Border Cooperation in the Programme area. The PC discussed the future Programme’s name and took a note of the Interreg branding work. The updated draft of the Programme documents and complemented LIP (Large Infrastructure Projects) proposals were among the topical issues at the meeting. Overall, the preparation process is advancing well, and the next important steps during January-March 2022 will be finalization of the Programme documents and their submission for the national approvals in Finland and in Russia.

The material supporting the process of the future Programme preparations are available at Programming material.

CBC In My Region

South-East Finland – Russia CBC 2014-2020 Programme continues its Annual Event -concept by organising third event on 8.12.2021, at 12:00-16:00 (EET/Helsinki), online by using Zoom.

The main objective of these annual gatherings of Programme’s beneficiaries and stakeholders is to promote achievements of the funded projects and to demonstrate the value of cooperation. Events are also a good opportunity for the local and regional decision-makers, media and wide audience to get familiar with the information of the projects and benefits of Finnish-Russian cooperation.

Event programme

This year, we start our half day event by introducing the performance of the ongoing CBC 2014-2020 Programme and the 2021-2027 preparations, and next steps forward. After this, the Programme’s financing stakeholders take the floor.

After the break, lead partners of the first five completed projects will share their results and experiences of the cross-border cooperation with time for questions & answers. From here we move forward and close the day with much anticipated information of the Good Communication Award winners 2021.

Download here the event programme

Register via this link by 3.12.2021 latest: https://q.surveypal.com/Registrationtemplate-8.12.2021-Annualevent/0

Online event is open for public and free of charge. Event language is English with Rus-Eng translation. Zoom-link is sent for the registered participants via email, a day before the event.

Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) between Finland and Russia is implemented by people and for the people, covering several sectors of cooperation. The Managing Authority of the South-East Finland – Russia CBC 2014-2020 invites everyone having opinions and/or experiences of Finnish-Russian cooperation, to have a say. We, together with our stakeholders, are very interested of all feedback to collect signals to keep up with the positive focus, to improve our services and to develop tools for the 2021-2027 programming period.

This year, we have enclosed few questions in the survey to enable participation on the development of the new website for the Programme. New website will open in 2022, and now it is time to submit opinions and share good ideas.

Go to Programme’s annual on-line survey (in English) open during 22.11.-10.12.2021 via link > Annual survey 2021 and take few minutes to answer the questions. We will share the key results on our website at https://www.sefrcbc.fi/information-service/annual-surveys/

Warm thanks for your contribution!

Managing Authority of the South-East Finland – Russia CBC 2014-2020 programme has opened an invitation to tender for conducting the Mid-term evaluation of the Programme. We look forward the following results, with the Result Oriented Monitoring approaches:

1. To learn whether the implementation of the Programme Strategy on both, the Programme and project level, has been carried out in an efficient and effective way.
2. To learn whether the results of the selected and contracted projects will be achievable and whether they lead to the achievement of the objectives of the Programme and projects, as well as to evaluate the support and monitoring measures of the Programme towards the project beneficiaries.
3. Based on the Evaluation results, to receive recommendations for improvement of this Programme and input for the South-East Finland – Russia Programme 2021-2027.
4. As a cross-cutting theme, to evaluate the effect of Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions to the project implementation and the realisation of the Programme Strategy.

The tendering closes on 26.11.2021 at 16:00 (EET).

TENDERING DOCUMENTS

Invitation to tender includes instructions and requirements to participate in tendering, and the links for additional information.

With the partial end of the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Programme’s customer and stakeholder services will move to the so-called hybrid model and standard office hours as of November 1, 2021. Our personnel work both in the office and remotely, and the opening hours of our offices are following.

Managing Authority office, Lappeenranta Mon-Fri 9.00-16.00 (local time)

We recommend arranging expert’s meeting for the office separately, either by contacting the Programme with the e-mail [email protected] or directly with the expert. Contact information for the Programme personnel at: https://www.sefrcbc.fi/contacts/

Consultations and meetings continue using remote tools and, when possible, also meeting face-to-face on-site.

In its sixth meeting on 8 October 2021, the Programming Committee (PC) discussed of the future Programme’s partnership, small-scale projects, management and operational functions, Simplified Cost Options and the Large Infrastructure Projects (LIPs). The Committee was also informed of the process and the overall results of the Public Hearing. As the next steps to finalise the Programme, the Committee agreed to work on the document-package in the written procedure considering the feedback from the hearing and of the PC for the latest Chapters, and have the next meeting in December 2021 aiming to adopt the draft Programme for the process of national acceptances by the participating countries Finland and Russia.