Reimbursement Request No 2, Technical Assistance Fund

Christoph Liechti Embassy of Switzerland to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia [email protected] Ours 18.03.2025 no 11.1-5/25/621-1 Smilšu iela 8 LV-1050 Riga LATVIA Reimbursement Request No 2, Technical Assistance Fund Dear Mr Liechti, Hereby the Paying Authority of the Swiss-Estonian Cooperation Programme submits the Reimbursement Request No 2 of the Technical Assistance Fund covering the period from 01 July 2024 to 31 December 2024. Yours sincerely, (signed digitally) Karin Viikmaa Head of the Grants Payment Department Annexes: 1. Reimbursement Request Helena Musthallik +372 5646 6003 [email protected] Lõkke 4 / 10122 Tallinn / 663 8200 / [email protected] / www.rtk.ee / Registrikood 70007340 Swiss-Estonian Cooperation Programme Reimbursement Request No. 2 Technical Assistance Fund Instructions Estonia A. Basic information Support Measure Title Technical Assistance Fund Support Measure Identification Code 7F-10899.01 Support Measure duration from 2/21/2023 to 12/3/2029 Name of Executing Agency State Shared Service Centre Reporting period from 7/1/2024 to 12/31/2024 Reimbursement Request No 2 Total Support Measure Budget (local currency) 962,075.00 EUR Maximum Swiss contribution (CHF) 390,000.00 CHF Swiss co-financing rate on total budget 42.00% on total expenditures 42.00% Exchange rate used CHF/EUR 1.038 Date of exchange rate 3/17/2025 B. Amount requested by the Paying Authority Total amount requested 33,584.30 EUR 32,341.68 CHF National co-financing 19,478.89 EUR 18,758.17 CHF Deductions (according to Regulations 11.4/3) 0.00 EUR 0.00 CHF Swiss co-financing = Reimbursement by CH 14,105.41 EUR 13,583.51 CHF C. Available amount from the Swiss Contribution Maximum Swiss Contribution 390,000.00 CHF 100.00% Cumulative amount received from Switzerland 31,283.14 CHF 8.02% Available amount before the current reimbursement 358,716.86 CHF 91.98% Total amount of current reimbursement request 13,583.51 CHF 3.48% Remaining amount after the current reimbursement 345,133.35 CHF 88.50% D. Certification and approval of Reimbursement Request template v13.7.23 Reimbursement Request Page 1 National Coordination Unit Name of the institution: State Shared Service Centre Address: Lõkke 4, 10122 Tallinn Name of the contact person: Helena Musthallik Position: programme expert Email: [email protected] Phone number: 3756466003 The National Coordination Unit hereby certifies (i) that the Support Measure is implemented in accordance with the Technical Support Agreement; (ii) the reporting under Physical Progress, Financial Progress and Procurement Plan is true and accurate; (iii) that the reporting under Financial Progress reflects correctly the incurred expenditures; (iv) that recoverable VAT is not included in the Financial Progress as eligible expense; (v) that no double-financing occurs; (vi) that all procurements for which expenditures were incurred during the reporting period have been conducted in compliance with the applicable law of the Partner State and EU directives on public procurement; (vii) that the information and financial data provided in this Reimbursement Request has been thoroughly reviewed and found to be correct, reliable and accurate; (viii) that claimed expenditures are incurred as part of the Support Measure in accordance with the Framework Agreement and the Technical Support Agreement; (ix) that all payments declared have actually been made in the indicated (or exceptionally previous) reporting period; (x) the compliance with state aid rules of all activities performed in the reporting period. Name: Urmo Merila Position: Deputy Director General Date and signature Paying Authority Name of the institution: State Shared Service Centre Address: Lõkke 4, 10122 Tallinn Name of the contact person: Janika Otsing Position: financial specialist Email: [email protected] Phone number: 3726631926 The Paying Authority hereby certifies (i) to have checked the conformity of the Reimbursement Request with the financial stipulations, in particular the co-financing rate, set out in the Technical Support Agreement; (ii) to have received sufficient information for the certification of the Reimbursement Request; (iii) to have checked the compliance of the Reimbursement Request with the information available to the Paying Authority; (iv) that the co-financing of the Partner State has been provided in accordance with the Technical Support Agreement; (v) that based on the information available to the Paying Authority no double-financing could be identified; (vi) that recoverable VAT is not included in the Reimbursement Request as eligible expense. The bank details for reimbursement are as follows: Beneficiary: Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Estonia IBAN: EE891010220034796011 SWIFT: EEUHEE2X Reference: 2550081357 Name: Karin Viikmaa Position: Head of the Grants Payment Department Date and signature template v13.7.23 Reimbursement Request Page 2  Technical Assistance Fund / Reimbursement Request No. 2 Financial Progress Instructions BUDGET REPORTING PERIOD 1: 2/21/2023 6/30/2024 REPORTING PERIOD 2: 7/1/2024 12/31/2024 CUMULATIVE DATA PLANNING EUR % CHF EUR CHF CHF CHF EUR CHF CHF CHF EUR CHF CHF CHF CHF Reimburseme Reimbursements Reimbursements Total nts expected Co-financing Swiss Eligible Eligible Swiss Eligible Eligible Swiss Eligible Total Eligible Swiss % of Swiss expected to be expected to be Budget National co- National co- % of Budget remaining to be received No Budget items rate (CH co- contribution expenditures expenditures contribution expenditures expenditures contribution expenditures remaining Expenditures contribution Contribution received from received from 100% financing financing spent Swiss from financing) (co-financing) 100% 100% (co-financing) 100% 100% (co-financing) 100% Budget 100% (co-financing) spent Switzerland (current Switzerland contribution Switzerland year) (year +2) (year +1) Exchange rate CHF/EUR 1.036081 1.068 1.038 1 National Coordination Unit (NCU) 626,276.00 42.00% 253,876 60,084.56 56,239.15 32,618.71 23,620.44 25,178.85 24,247.23 14,063.39 10,183.84 85,263.41 13.61% 541,012.59 80,486.38 33,804.28 13.32% 220,071.55 15,000.00 48,000.00 50,000.00 1.1 Meetings with the Swiss authorities, reg art 6.5 (a) 57,057.00 6,478.31 1,401.83 7,880.14 13.81% 49,176.86 1.2 Information events, exchange of experience and capacity building between NCU, Paying Authority, Audit Authority, Executing Agencies, Intermediate Bodies, programme operators and programme component operators, reg art 6.5 (d) 25,280.00 0.00 0.00% 25,280.00 1.3 Expenditures associated with evaluations at the level of the CP or in a thematic area, reg art 6.5 (h) 113,969.00 0.00 0.00% 113,969.00 1.4 Visibility, public awareness of the CP, reg art 6.5 (j) 124,674.00 368.38 552.33 920.71 0.74% 123,753.29 1.5 Translation and interpretation costs, reg art 6.5 (k) 20,338.00 0.00 0.00% 20,338.00 1.6 NCU salaries, social security contributions and other statutory costs in respect of public officials of the national entities, reg art 6.5 (m) 284,958.00 53,237.87 23,224.69 76,462.56 26.83% 208,495.44 2 Paying Authority 86,715.00 42.00% 35,152 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 5,017.53 4,831.88 2,802.49 2,029.39 5,017.53 5.79% 81,697.47 4,831.88 2,029.39 5.77% 33,122.59 3,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 2.1 Paying Authority salaries, social security contributions and other statutory costs in respect of public officials of the national entities, reg art 6.5 (m) 86,715.00 . 5,017.53 5,017.53 5.79% 81,697.47 3 Audit Authority 181,739.00 42.00% 73,672 11,404.95 10,675.03 6,191.52 4,483.51 1,863.67 1,794.71 1,040.93 753.78 13,268.62 7.30% 168,470.38 12,469.74 5,237.29 7.11% 68,434.92 3,000.00 19,500.00 20,000.00 3.1 Audit Authority - Information events, exchange of experience and capacity building between NCU, Paying Authority, Audit Authority, Executing Agencies, Intermediate Bodies, programme operators and programme component operators, reg art 6.5 (d) 2,072.00 282.88 282.88 13.65% 1,789.12 3.2 Audit Authority salaries, social security contributions and other statutory costs in respect of public officials of the national entities, reg art 6.5 (m) 179,667.00 11,122.07 1,863.67 12,985.74 7.23% 166,681.26 4 Miscellaneous expenses 67,345.00 42.00% 27,300 8,087.06 7,569.49 4,390.30 3,179.19 1,524.25 1,467.86 851.36 616.50 9,611.31 14.27% 57,733.69 9,037.35 3,795.69 13.90% 23,504.20 2,000.00 5,460.00 5,460.00 4.1 Miscellaneous expenses 67,345.00 8,087.06 1,524.25 9,611.31 14.27% 57,733.69 TOTAL 962,075.00 42.00% 390,000 79,576.57 74,483.67 43,200.53 31,283.14 33,584.30 32,341.68 18,758.17 13,583.51 113,160.87 11.76% 848,914.13 106,825.35 44,866.65 11.50% 345,133.26 23,000.00 76,960.00 80,460.00 Financial Progress Page 3 Information on modifications of the Support Measure approved during the reporting period According toTechnical Support Agreement Article 11 Modification of the Technical Assistance budget was submitted to the Swiss Contribution Office together with the TA budget for 2025 and TA annual plan for 2025 on 31.10.2024. With the budget modification, funds unspent in 2023 and 2024 were transferred to the 2025 budget. In several budget lines description of the types of expenditures was specified and supplemented. More information can be found from the excel file "Annex_2_CH-EE_TA_Annual_budget_2025_22.11.2024". The SCO aproved modification of the TA budget on 25.11.2024. Information on non-eligible expenditures during the reporting period Please indicate the amount of non-eligible expenditures during the reporting period. Why are the expenditures non-eligible (for example due to irregularities or because it was agreed during the approval process of the SM that the costs are non-eligible)? Who will finance the non-eligible expenditures? No ineligible costs were found. Information on deductions related to financial corrections (Art 11.4/3 Regulations) In case of a financial correction already paid by Switzerland and deducted in this Reimbusement Request, please indicate the budget item, reporting period in question and provide explanation on the deduction made / refer to irregularity report. There were no deductions. Information on advance payments According to Art. 8.3. of the Regulations the Partner State may in exceptional cases agree with Switzerland on advance payments. If these are foreseen in the Support Measure Agreement, describe how the advance payment will be used in the upcoming reimbursement period and provide proof for the execution of the advance payment by the Partner State. Advance payments were not foreseen. Information regarding deviations from financial planning If there is a significant difference between the expenditures planned for this reporting period and the actual expenditures paid by the Paying Authority, justify the deviations. Also explain if the financial planning in this reimbursement request significantly differs from the financial planning in the previous reimbursement requests.If there is a cost overrun per budget item, describe how the additional costs will be covered. There were no significant deviations. Financial Progress Page 4  Swiss-Estonian Cooperation Programme Technical Assistance Fund / Reimbursement Request No. 2 Operational Progress National Coordination Unit (NCU) No Short description of activities undertaken in the reporting period 1.1 Events, meetings, Steering Committee meeting, opening event of the SM „Supporting Social Inclusion“ Representatives of the NCU attended the reception-garden party held on the occasion of the Swiss National Day on August 29, 2024, in Riga. The event was organized by the Embassy of Switzerland to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. On August 30, 2024, the programme expert from the NCU and the coordinator of the Support Measure „Supporting Social Inclusion“ met with representatives of the SCO to discuss questions related to the implementation of the support measure and the opening event. 1.1 The programme expert from the NCU participated at the Steering Committee meeting of the SM „Supporting Social Inclusion“ on October 16, 2024, in Narva. At the meeting the current status of activities, future plans, the supplementation of indicators in the logframe, issues related to joint discipline of language and other topics were discussed. On October 17, 2024, the programme expert from the NCU attended the opening event of the SM „Supporting Social Inclusion“ in Narva. 1.4 The communication specialist from the NCU published information on the website of the State Shared Service Centre and participated in discussions related to communication. 1.6 Steering Committee meetings, opening event The programme expert from the NCU participated at the online Steering Committee meeting of the SM “Biodiversity Programme” on October 15, 2024. During the meeting, the current status of activities, future plans, and other relevant topics were discussed. The programme expert also participated at the Steering Committee meeting of the SM „Supporting Social Inclusion“ on October 16, 2024 and on October 17, 2024 attended the opening event of the SM „Supporting Social Inclusion“ in Narva. 1.6 Support Measure Implementation Agreements The SM Implementation Agreement for the SM “Supporting Social Inclusion” was concluded between the State Shared Service Centre and the Ministry of Culture on November 19, 2024. The SM Implementation Agreement for the SM “Biodiversity Programme” was concluded between the State Shared Service Centre and the Ministry of Climate on December 19, 2024. Both agreements were prepared by the NCU, and their content was agreed upon with the programme operators and component operators. 1.6 Orders and agreements After the signature of the support measure agreements the preparation of the agreements and orders for the implementation of components was started. All agreements and orders are prepared in cooperation with the NCU and the respective PO of the support measure, who both must also approve the documents before they are issued or signed. The Ministry of the Interior and the National Foundation of Civil Society signed an agreement on December 9, 2024, for the implementation of the component “Strengthening Civil Society through Social Innovation” under the SM “Supporting Social Inclusion”. The order of the Minister of Climate for implementing the components of the SM “Biodiversity Programme” was submitted to the NCU for approval in December 2024. 1.6 Annual plan and budget The NCU submitted the annual plan and budget for 2025 to the SCO on October 31, 2024. Both documents were approved by the SCO on November 25, 2024. Estimated cumulative physical progress (%) Paying Authority No Short description of activities undertaken in the reporting period Operational Progress Page 5 2.1 The Paying Authority submitted Reimbursement Requests No. 1 for the Technical Assistance Fund, the Ministry of Culture for the Support Measure Preparation Fund, and the Ministry of Climate for the Support Measure Preparation, covering the period from February 21, 2023, to June 30, 2024, on October 24, 2024. Estimated cumulative physical progress (%) Audit Authority No Short description of activities undertaken in the reporting period 3.2 In March, April, and October 2024, the Audit Authority audited the expenditures financed from the Technical Assistance Fund and the Support Measure Preparation Fund and did not detect any ineligible costs. The Audit Authority submitted the first version of the Audit Report to the State Shared Service Centre on October 22, 2024, and the final version with minor corrections on October 28, 2024. The Paying Authority submitted the first version of the Audit Report to the SCO on October 24, 2024, together with Reimbursement Request No. 1 for the Technical Assistance Fund. The NCU submitted the final version by e-mail on November 11, 2024. Estimated cumulative physical progress (%) Miscellaneous expenses No Short description of activities undertaken in the reporting period 4 Specialists of the State Shared Service Centre controlled the expenses made from the Support Measure Preparation Fund and the Technical Assistance Fund. Estimated cumulative physical progress (%) Operational Progress Page 6  Swiss-Estonian Cooperation Programme Technical Assistance Fund / Reimbursement Request No. 2 Programme Characteristics To be filled in by Programme Operator Swiss Contribution (in-country) No Programme Component Name Specific Objective Thematic Area Name Programme Component Operator Type of entity Planned duration CHF Geographic Focus PSP/PA maximum 40 characters in CHF according to Art. 2.2 according to Art. 2.4 Start End Regulations Regulations 1 National Coordination Unit (NCU) 253,875.83 2 Paying Authority 35,151.98 3 Audit Authority 73,672.21 4 Miscellaneous expenses 27,299.89 5 Programme Component 4 0.00 6 Programme Component 5 0.00 7 Programme Component 6 0.00 8 Programme Component 7 0.00 9 Programme Component 8 0.00 10 Programme Component 9 0.00 delete or add lines as necessary  Swiss-Estonian Cooperation Programme Technical Assistance Fund / Reimbursement Request No. 2 Procurement Plan To be filled in by Programme Operator English If applicable, planned Tender notice translation of Actual launch deadline for will be Programme Launch of tender of tender Contract Actual Contract Actual Actual costs based on submitting submitted to Expenditures incurred based Component or Contract Name tender documents will (publication signature contract completion contract Initially estimated costs signed contracts Contractor Comments documentation to Swiss side on signed contracts Project Ref. No planned be made of tender planned signature planned completion Swiss "non before available to notice) objection" publication bidders status/ appeals/ cancelling or repetion of tender (incl. reason)/ numbers of bidders and rejected quarter / quarter / quarter / quarter / year yes/no yes/no date date date EUR CHF EUR CHF name EUR CHF bids/risks/ irregularities related to the tender/ year year year difficulties with the the Contractor/ suspension of works etc. Evaluation of SMs "Supporting Social Inclusion" and "Biodiversity Programme" according to Regulation Article 10.3 p. 2 IV/2027 I/2028 III/2028 113968.91 110000  Deckblatt Rechnung E-Billing / Coversheet Invoice E-Billing Buchungsinformationen / Booking information Referenz-Nummer / Reference Number REF-1006-66300 Projektnummer / Support Measure Identification Code 7F-10899.01 Kreditorennummer / Creditor Number 1000643543 Name des Kreditors / Creditor's name Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Estonia Strasse / Street Suur-Ameerika 1 PLZ, Ort / Zip code and place 10122 Tallinn Währung / Currency: CHF Betrag / Reimbursement requested from Switzerland 13,583.51 Aufteilung nach Programmkomponente / Breakdown by programme component National Coordination Unit (NCU) 10,183.84 Paying Authority 2,029.39 Audit Authority 753.78 Miscellaneous expenses 616.50 Zahladresse / Account details Kontoinhaber / bank account holder (if different from creditor name) Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Estonia IBAN-Nr.: EE891010220034796011 SWIFT: EEUHEE2X Referenz-Nummer / Reference Number 2550081357 Bankbezeichnung / Name and address of the bank SEB, Tornimäe 2, 15010 Tallinn, Estonia VALIDITY CONFIRMATION SHEET SIGNED FILES FILE NAME FILE SIZE Reimbursement Request No 2, Technical Assistance Fund.pdf 431 KB SIGNERS NO. NAME PERSONAL CODE TIME 1 KARIN VIIKMAA 47410180248 18.03.2025 13:58:27 +02:00 VALIDITY OF SIGNATURE SIGNATURE IS VALID ROLE / RESOLUTION PLACE OF CONFIRMATION (CITY, STATE, ZIP, COUNTRY) SERIAL NUMBER OF SIGNER CERTIFICATE 6a:b3:54:b2:b7:d6:f8:47:62:bd:56:54:a4:80:9c:52 ISSUER OF CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY KEY IDENTIFIER ESTEID2018 D9 AC 70 DB 5F 7E BE 94 F8 A0 E4 BE 47 A2 D0 34 AD 9A 2A 12 HASH VALUE OF SIGNATURE 30 31 30 0D 06 09 60 86 48 01 65 03 04 02 01 05 00 04 20 CA BD E2 20 13 ED A3 05 32 D2 1A CD F1 B0 A3 F6 BA 4B 13 56 2C C8 AC 53 D9 CC F 2 DF 5B F1 3A 48 The print out of files listed in the section "Signed Files" are inseparable part of this Validity Confirmation Sheet. NOTES Presented print summary is informative to confirm existence of signed file with given hash value. The print summary itself does not have independent verification value. Declaration of signers’ signature can be verified only through digitally signed file. Christoph Liechti Embassy of Switzerland to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia [email protected] Ours 18.03.2025 no 11.1-5/25/621-1 Smilšu iela 8 LV-1050 Riga LATVIA Reimbursement Request No 2, Technical Assistance Fund Dear Mr Liechti, Hereby the Paying Authority of the Swiss-Estonian Cooperation Programme submits the Reimbursement Request No 2 of the Technical Assistance Fund covering the period from 01 July 2024 to 31 December 2024. Yours sincerely, (signed digitally) Karin Viikmaa Head of the Grants Payment Department Annexes: 1. Reimbursement Request Helena Musthallik +372 5646 6003 [email protected] Lõkke 4 / 10122 Tallinn / 663 8200 / [email protected] / www.rtk.ee / Registrikood 70007340