The Financing Agreement (FA) that sets the legal base for Financing and Implementing of the South-East Finland – Russia CBC 2014-2020 programme has now been ratified in Russia and Finland. In accordance with the Implementing Regulations, the Agreement enters into force on the first day of the second month after the European Commission receives the respective notifications. In practice, this means that the force date will be 1 October 2018 and after that, the Managing Authority may prepare and sign the Grant Contracts with the lead partners of the awarded projects.
As part of the contracting procedure, the Managing Authority organise so called kick-off meetings to communicate with each project partner and to present the requirements and instructions in connection to project implementation. Meetings are aimed also to support efficient launching of the funded actions. First invitations will be send by the end of August and the first meetings are scheduled for the second half of September in Lappeenranta and St. Petersburg.
