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About the program

The Bucharest-Ilfov Regional Development Agency (BIRDA) is a non-governmental, non-profit institution of public utility, with legal personality, established in 1999, operating under Law 315/2004 regarding regional development in Romania.

 

The basic activity of BIRDA is the provision of specific services to the local public administration and private sector, with the view of developing the Bucharest-Ilfov Region.

 

Since its establishment until the present moment, BIRDA has implemented several programs focusing on to socio-economic development of the Bucharest-Ilfov region. These were: the Phare Program – Social and Economic Cohesion, the 2007-2013 Regional Operational Program and some programs funded by the Government of Romania.

 

The Agency has the capacity of Intermediate Body for the 2014-2020 Regional Operational Program (REGIO) at the level of the Bucharest-Ilfov region and fulfills its duties and responsibilities related to the Regio implementation, based on adequate management, according to the principles of transparency and partnership, in accordance with the provisions of the “Framework agreement for the implementation of the 2014-2020 Regional Operational Program in Romania” concluded with the Managing Authority – the Ministry of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds, internal procedures and the relevant national and community legislation.

 

REGIO 2014-2020 is one of the programs by means of which Romania can access the European structural and investment funds made available by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), during the current programing period and it has as general objective increasing the economic competitiveness and improving the living conditions of the local and regional communities, by supporting the business environment, the infrastructure and services, for the sustainable development of regions, so that they would be able to efficiently manage the resources and capitalize their innovation potential and assimilate technological progress.

This objective is translated into 11 priority axes (plus one for technical assistance), which have a total allocation estimated at EUR 8.25 billion, out of which EUR 6.7 billion represent the support of the EU, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and EUR 1.5 billion – national contribution.

 

The indicative financial allocation for the ROP in the Bucharest-Ilfov region is of EUR 431,812,677, out of which ERDF EUR 342,808,513 and the national contribution of EUR 89,004,164, in accordance with the Annex to Decision no. 71/13.10.2017 of the Monitoring Committee for the 2014-2020 Regional Operational Program, approving the amendments of the regional allocations.

 

The Bucharest-Ilfov region, the only more developed region of Romania, benefits from funding for 5 out of the 11 axes. They are:

  • Priority Axis 3 – Supporting the transition towards a low carbon economy
  • Priority Axis 5 – Improvement of the urban environment and preservation, protection and sustainable capitalization of the cultural heritage
  • Priority Axis 6 – Improvement of the road infrastructure of regional and local importance
  • Priority Axis 9 –  Supporting the economic and social regeneration of the disadvantaged communities located in the urban areas
  • Priority Axis 10 – Improvement of the education infrastructure

Priority Axis 3

Supporting the transition towards a low carbon economy

Environmental protection and increased energy efficiency are important objectives for the European Union.

 

This axis finances investments in order to increase the energy efficiency of residential buildings, public buildings and public lighting systems. It also funds the investments for projects approved under the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of the Bucharest-Ilfov region, and are aimed at reducing carbon emissions in the urban environment.

The amount allocated to Axis 3 from the 2014-2020 ROP, for the Bucharest-Ilfov Region, is of EUR 299.99 million.

 

The eligible beneficiaries of Axis 3 are the Local Public Authorities from the urban environment.

Investment priority 3.1

Supporting energy efficiency, smart management of energy and renewable energy use in public infrastructures, including public buildings, and in the housing sector

Types of investments

  • Thermal rehabilitation works and increasing the energy efficiency of residential buildings

  • Thermal rehabilitation works and increasing the energy efficiency of public buildings

  • Increasing the energy efficiency of the public lighting systems

Beneficiaries

  • Local Public Authorities

  • Central Public Authorities

  • Public authorities and institutions subordinated to them

In what concerns the Bucharest-Ilfov region, the City Hall of Bucharest is the beneficiary of this investment priority, or the City Hall of the Municipality of Bucharest in partnership with the city halls of the localities which are part of Ilfov County.

 

The projects thus funded must be included in the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of the Bucharest-Ilfov region.

 

These projects will bring a solution to some of the problems that make Bucharest a city with many traffic jams.

Investment priority 3.2

Promoting the strategies for reducing the carbon dioxide emissions for all types of territories, in particular urban areas, including the promotion of sustainable urban mobility plans and of relevant measures to mitigate adaptations

Types of investments

  • Investments intended to improve urban passenger public transport

    • Purchase of rolling stock (trams),
    • Modernization of existing rolling stock (trams)
    • Purchase of trolley buses
    • Purchase of buses
    • Construction/modernization/rehabilitation/extension of public electric transport routes
    • Construction/modernization/rehabilitation of yards/depots related to local or regional passenger public transport, including the related technical infrastructure
    • Construction and modernization of the passenger public transport stations (trams, trolley buses, buses)
    • Creation/extension/modernization of integrated ticketing systems for passengers (“e-tickets” or “e-ticketing”)
    • Construction/modernization/extension of dedicated lanes, used exclusively for passenger public transport means

  • Investments intended for electric and non-motorized transport

    • Purchase and installation of recharging points for hybrid electric and electric vehicles
    • Construction/modernization/extension of bicycle lanes/routes
    • Creation/modernization/extension of bicycle rental systems (“bike-sharing”, “bike-rental” systems)
    • Construction/modernization/extension of pedestrian areas and routes

  • Other investments intended to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions in the urban area

    • Creation/modernization/extension of traffic management systems, including video monitoring, and other intelligent transport systems (ITS)
    • Construction/modernization/rehabilitation of the road infrastructure used primarily by urban public passenger transport, in order to reduce the CO2-equivalent emissions from road transport (for the urban streets Category 3 and 4)
    • Planting lines of trees and shrubs
    • Creation of transfer parking of “park and ride” type
Details regarding the Applicant’s Guide

Priority Axis 5

Improvement of the urban environment and preservation, protection and sustainable capitalization of the cultural heritage

Investment priority 5.1

Preservation, protection, promotion and development of the cultural heritage

Beneficiaries

  • Administrative and territorial divisions, including the districts of the Municipality of Bucharest

  • Central public authorities

  • Units of worship, as defined by Law no. 489 / 2006 on religious freedom and the legal regime of cults – WU

  • NGOs

  • Partnerships between these entities

Types of investments

  • Restoration, consolidation, protection and preservation of the historical monuments

  • Restoration, protection, preservation of indoor painting, frescoes, outdoor murals, crown moldings and iconostasis

  • Restoration and remodeling of the facades plastic elements

  • Interior endowments (installations, equipment and endowments necessary in order to ensure the air-conditioning, fire safety and anti-theft conditions)

  • Endowments to expose and protect the mobile and immobile cultural heritage

  • Marketing activities and touristic promotion of the restored objective, including public information regarding the intention to implement the project

  • Activities focusing on the digitalization of the restored objective within the project

The allocation for the Bucharest-Ilfov region is of EUR 26.06 million

Details regarding the Applicant’s Guide

Investment priority 5.2

Carrying out actions intended to improve the urban environment, revitalize cities, reduce air pollution and promote the measures to reduce noise

Beneficiaries

  • Administrative and territorial divisions, as well as the Municipality of Bucharest

  • Partnerships between the aforementioned administrative and territorial divisions and the county administrative and territorial division

Types of investments

  • Demolishing the buildings located on lands subject to interventions

  • Clearing the existing vegetation and land sanitation

  • Land modelling actions

  • Fitting out of the green areas (planting perennial plants/turfing the surfaces, including planting trees and shrubs)

  • Acquiring and installing constructive elements like gazebos, pergolas, gratings, toilets, areas dedicated to the maintenance activity/locker rooms, stages etc.

  • Developing pedestrian alleys, bicycle lanes, sidewalks

  • Endowment with urban furniture (benches, trash bins, eco-toilets, bicycle holders, fencing, etc.)

  • Developing the public lighting system and/or irrigations for the land undergoing an intervention

  • Installing video surveillance systems and/or Wi-Fi in public areas

  • Replacement and/or connection of the land, which is the subject matter of the investment, to the public utilities system

  • Modernization of the urban streets which ensure direct access to the lands undergoing an intervention, within the maximum limit of 15% of the total value of eligible expenditures

  • Creating recreational facilities on the fitted-out lands (e.g., special sports areas, playgrounds for children, etc.)

The allocation for the Bucharest-Ilfov region is of EUR 13.89 millions

Priority Axis 6

Improvement of the road infrastructure of regional importance

The specific objective is increasing the level of accessibility to the rural and urban areas located in the proximity of the TEN-T network, through the modernization of the county roads.

For the call intended for the more developed Bucharest-Ilfov region, the maximum eligible value of the project cannot exceed EUR 13.3 million, correlated with the allocation of the region.

 

The beneficiaries will provide from their own budgets a co-financing of minimum 2% of the value of the eligible expenditures.

 

The potential beneficiaries are the territorial administrative divisions, in their capacity of administrator of the road transport infrastructure of county interest, namely the Ilfov County Council for the Bucharest-Ilfov region.

The Regio funding can be provided for: the modernization, construction, rehabilitation of the county roads network, development of roundabouts, of some diversions and or certain passages and road nodes.

 

The funding includes also investments intended for road safety, as well as forest shelter-belts or protection fences.

Details regarding the Applicant’s Guide

Priority Axis 9

Supporting the economic and social regeneration of disadvantaged communities located in the urban areas

The potential beneficiaries are partnerships (local action group) between: the representatives of the local public authorities, institutions, local business environment, civil society, marginalized urban area selected for the intervention.

 

The interventions within this investment priority are aimed at reducing the number of persons facing the risk of poverty and social exclusion, by implementing integrated measures, with a focus on marginalized communities. The planned measures will contribute mainly, to meeting the target-objective undertaken within the NRP, namely that of reducing with 580,000 the number of persons facing the risk of poverty and social exclusion until 2020, as well as the objectives undertaken in the field of employment, education and health.

 

That is why, the interventions within this investment priority will be implemented in an integrated manner (development of the infrastructure supported by measures for strengthening the human capacity, by developing ESF type of measures). The interventions within this priority will benefit from support through ROP (Axis 9 – Supporting the economic and social regeneration of the disadvantaged communities located in the urban areas) and OPHC (PA 5 – Local developed under the responsibility of the community), being implemented in accordance with the methodology established at the level of the two operational programs dedicated to this priority axis.

The support for the infrastructure of the communities that use the CLLD instrument will be provided from the ROP for urban areas that have a population of more than 20,000 inhabitants.

 

The target groups that are the focus of this specific objective will be, similarly to the OPHC approach: persons facing the risk of poverty (women, youth, persons from low-income families, homeless people, elders and disabled persons in dependency or facing the risk of social exclusion, children at risk, etc.), as well as the persons that suffer from different types of addiction (alcohol, prohibited substances, etc.), victims of domestic violence, of human trafficking and persons deprived of their liberty and under probation, as well as disadvantaged persons of Roma ethnicity.

Details

Priority Axis 10

Improvement of the education infrastructure

In the Bucharest-Ilfov region there is a strong need for investments in the education infrastructure, being the only region where there is an increase in the school age population: the age group 0-14 years of will increase with 25 % by 2020 as compared to 2010, and the age group 0-3 years will increase with 17% by 2020 as compared to 2010. A pressure is thus acknowledged for all types of education infrastructures.

 

At the same time, the Bucharest-Ilfov region is the largest university center in Romania, taking into account that one third of the higher education institutions are located in this region.

 

The investment priorities for axis 10 focus on Investments in education and training, including vocational training, in order to acquire skills and life-long learning by means of development. This priority materialized in the following specific objectives:

 

Specific Objectives 10.1 a and b
Increasing the level of attendance in early education and mandatory education, especially for children facing the high risk of early school leaving – nurseries/kindergartens and schools.

 

Specific Objective 10.2
Increasing the level of participation in vocational and technical education and life-long learning

The eligible applicants for the specific objectives 10.1a, 10.1b and 10.2 can be administrative and territorial divisions, local public institutions and partnerships between these entities, which can implement the following types of investments: construction works, rehabilitation works, modernization works and expansion, endowment works.

 

Specific Objective 10.3
Increasing the relevance of tertiary higher education in relation to the labor market and the competitive economic sectors

 

The eligible applicants can be the state higher education institutions. The call for proposals of this objective will fund projects that foresee rehabilitation/modernization works and/or activities for expanding/equipping the university education infrastructure.

 

The national financial allocation for this priority axis is of more than EUR 352 million, out of which the allocation for the Bucharest-Ilfov Region is more than 15% – EUR 53.19 million.

Details regarding the Applicant’s Guide

Implementation

The implementation of the Regional Operational Program within the region, in its capacity of Intermediate Body, foresees:

  • providing support to the potential beneficiaries, including by organizing information sessions at the level of the specialized structures established to this regard, by means of regional information campaigns, as well as by supplying other information requested by them, with the view of developing the projects that can be funded through the ROP;
  • receiving and registering the funding requests, in accordance with the relevant procedure, and evaluating the funding requests from the administrative and eligility standpoint;
  • verifying the projects on-site, drawing-up and submitting to the Contracting Authority the funding contracts related to these projects, in order to be endorsed/signed; monitoring the implementation of the approved projects; receiving and verifying the reimbursements requests from the beneficiaries;

These activities are being carried out by the following departments of BIRDA:

 

Information, communcation and promotion through the Regional Promotion and Investments Department (RPID)

 

Regio Promotion 2014-2020.adrbi.ro

  • online form to register for the events
  • updated information regarding the projects’ implementation stage
  • information request form
  • newsletter (with the possibility to subscribe free of charge)
  • visual identity manual

 

  • Information about Regio is provided by the information office, phone no.: 021.313.80.99
  • Consultancy provided to the beneficiaries regarding the Regio visual identity rules
  • Organizing events
  • Creation and dissemination of Region information and promotion materials

 

Support for developing projects or drawing up strategies through the Planning, Programming, Monitoring and Projects Portfolio Department (DPPMPP)

 

  • Development of strategic documents and of the 2014-2020 Regional Development Plan
  • Support provided to the local public authorities in order to identify and develop the portfolio of projects eligible for Regio funding and of the initiatives to draw up local development strategies and plans

Evaluation, selection and contracting of projects through Evaluation, Selection and Contracting Department (DESC)

 

  • Verifying the administrative compliance and eligibility of the funding requests
  • Organizing technical and financial evaluation sessions carried out by the independent evaluators teams contracted by MAROP
  • Verifying the compliance of the technical projects for the projects that envisage construction works
  • Verifying the on-site compliance in order to contract Regio projects
  • Drawing-up and submitting to MAROP the Regio funding contracts in order to be endorsed and signed

 

Monitoring the projects through the Projects Monitoring Department (DMP)

 

  • Monitoring the projects with Regio funding
  • Providing support to the beneficiaries during the performance of the contracts, by means of counseling for drawing up the progress reports and reimbursement requests
  • Periodical reports submitted to MAROP regarding the Regio implementation stage

 

Verifying the projects through the Projects Verification Department (DVP)

 

  • Verifying the actual status of the works and the acquisition of goods and services
  • Verifying the observance of the legal provisions regarding the eligibility of expenditures
  • Verifying the enforcement of the public procurement procedures, in accordance with the legislation in force

 

Technical Assistance

 

The Intermediate Body within BIRDA benefits from Regio funding through Axis 12 Technical Assistance for:

 

  • Supporting the efficient implementation of Regio by adequately fulfilling the duties delegated by MAROP
  • Supporting the information and publicity activities in order to increase the level of awareness and transparency regarding Regio funding: organizing events and developing information and promotional materials

Contact

General Manager
Dan Nicula
E-mail: dan.nicula@adrbi.ro

 

Responsible for the ROP implementation
Deputy General Manager
Emilia Balalau
E-mail: emilia.balalau@adrbi.ro

 

Regio Information Office
Simana Curpan, Expert, Regional Promotion and Investments Department
Phone no.: 021.313.80.99
Fax no.: 021.315.96.65
E-mail: helpdesk@adrbi.ro

Support for the Development of Projects
Gina Păun, Head of the Planning, Programming, Monitoring and Projects Portfolio Department
Phone no.: 021.315.96.59/113
E-mail: Gina.paun@adrbi.ro

 

Projects Implementation and Monitoring
Simona Bănaru, Head of the Projects Monitoring Department
Phone no.: 021.315.96.59/138
E-mail: Simona.banaru@adrbi.ro

 

Public and Mass Media Relations
Claudia Ionescu, Head of the Regional Promotion and Investments Department
E-mail: claudia.ionescu@adrbi.ro

 

Address
163 Mihai Eminescu Street, District 2, Bucharest
Phone no.: 021.315.96.59
Fax no.: 021.315.96.65
E-mail: contact@adrbi.ro