§ Mr. Gordon McMasterTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many projects involving the development of co-operatives in central and eastern Europe have been initiated through funds provided by the British Government through the know-how funds or otherwise; what is the total amount of money provided by the Government for training and development of co-operatives in central and eastern Europe; and what figures are available for the number of co-operatives and co-operative jobs generated by these funds. [19067]
§ Mr. BaldrySince 1990, £1,154,050 has been committed from the know-how fund in support of eight projects to assist farmers and banking co-operatives in Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and Ukraine. The European Union's PHARE programme has allocated a further 16.5 million ecu, the UK share of which is around 16 per cent. for the development of co-operatives and the training of staff in the agricultural sector. There are no figures available for the number of co-operatives and co-operative jobs generated by these funds.
Many state-run co-operatives have been abolished as part of the reform process in former communist Europe. The know-how fund has targeted its assistance on institutions which can survive in the environment of a market economy but require help in the short term with the transformation from the state to the private sector.