The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers approved last Tuesday the award of a grant of almost 14 million euros to the Bolivian Ministry of Environment and Water to finance a project for integrated water management in urban areas. The grant has been fully financed by the European Commission and, therefore, does not involve any expenditure for the Spanish Administration.
On November 19, AECID signed a Contribution Agreement with the European Union whereby the European Commission delegates to AECID the management of fifteen million euros to contribute to the implementation of the Integrated Water Management Program in Urban Areas project. By virtue of the Agreement signed, the Presidency of the AECID subsequently proposed the award of a multi-year international cooperation grant granted within the framework of the development of the Government’s foreign policy, in the amount of 13,848,692 euros, to the Bolivian Ministry of the Environment and Water.
The remaining 1,151,308 euros deriving from the Agreement correspond, on the one hand, to compensation to the AECID for administrative expenses (981,308 euros) and, on the other, to a complementary aid-in-kind grant, intended for the same Bolivian Ministry of the Environment and Water (170,000 euros), through which support expenses for program monitoring and communication and visibility activities will be financed.
“The European Commission finances this grant in its entirety, so it does not imply any expense for the Spanish Administration,” assured the Council of Ministers. “On the contrary, it constitutes a considerable income through the compensation of administrative expenses for the AECID,” it added.
For the time being, the AECID has received a first disbursement of three million euros from the European Commission, the vast majority for the grant and almost 200,000 to compensate the AECID for administrative expenses. Future disbursements from AECID will be conditional upon compliance by the Bolivian Ministry of Environment and Water with the conditions set for the grant and receipt of the corresponding disbursements from the European Commission.
