“The challenge was huge and required going beyond the technical assistance we used to provide,” explains Steve. That’s particularly true in countries like Romania and Bulgaria, which lag behind the rest of the EU in their take-up of development funds. Project implementation isn’t always smooth. It received EUR 7 million from the EU funded Sectoral Operational Programme Environment, supported by the EIB Project advisory support The county of Targu Mures, Romania, got project advisory support to rehabilitate and extend its wastewater treatment plant. We got quality advice from the EIB, which has made a difference.” “ But we had problems in the implementation. Gheran always had lots of good projects that “would deliver greater real benefits if they were properly managed and supplemented with good technical advice on the ground,” he says. The benefits that these projects bring to the Romanian people are a great boost for us.” “ From around 30% implementation rate in 2013, up to almost 90% in 2016. The result: “ A massive increase,” says Catalin Gheran, who heads Romania’s large infrastructure operational program for 2014 to 2020. With eight experts in the EIB’s Sofia and Bucharest offices, Steve’s team meets each week with their counterparts in the Romanian and Bulgarian governments. That helps regions and municipalities to navigate bureaucracies and local business customs, clearing roadblocks, speeding up processes, and moving projects forward. “ This is the first time that EIB implementation experts have worked on the ground.” “ There is no substitute for local presence,” says Steve Richards, head of the Bank’s Project Advisory Support team. The big change came when the European Investment Bank put its technical assistance experts on the ground. Even when local beneficiaries gained access to vital grant money from the EU, they lacked the experience to implement such projects. Because it’s US-centric, not all of them will be relevant but there is plenty of useful content for UK residents too, including videos covering retirement saving and other topics important to your financial planning.Infrastructure projects in these South-East European countries often got stuck even before they had really started. GuideVine is another US-based channel, specialising in short tips like how to fill out various returns and forms. Great for a wider, more business-focused view on the financial world. You can go back to school with the LSBF channel, which is currently hosting a series of very insightful videos of the school talking with figureheads from the world of business. Linking with the MoneyWeek magazine they produce content on what is important in the world of finance. MoneyWeek videos are precise, intelligent and to the point. This channel focuses on how and where to save money, whether that be on daily purchases, or reducing spends on things like utilities and other regular bills. Martin Lewis from the Money Saving Expert hosts a series of factual videos, a quick response to new consumer spending problems. The MoneySupermarket channel has a whole library of fun and informative videos that, again, are mainly useful for consumer spending and everyday ways to save! 5. This Nationwide channel has an informative and useful ‘managing your finances’ section, which is clear to understand and can be a good introduction to some topics. We would always recommend independent financial advice, but some of the big banks do produce really engaging content that could be useful. The money advice service is a useful channel dedicated to enabling people to make better financial decisions through offering free impartial advice on largely transactional money matters, ranging from a beginners guide to managing your finances to buying your first home. It is US-based, so some of the tips might not apply, but the style is interesting and engaging, delivering financial education in a brief but sound manner. Professor Savings provides consumer-orientated videos on everything from saving at major stores to making sure you’re budgeting your outgoings properly.
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