§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid has been given to Montenegro in 1999; and how much is planned for 2000. [101464]
§ Mr. FoulkesWe expect to provide around £92,000 in bilateral development technical assistance to Montenegro in the 1999–2000 financial year. This is mainly in support of privatisation programmes and public administration reform. Work was disrupted by the Kosovo crisis, during which we provided around £650,000 in emergency humanitarian assistance.
For 2000–01, we are considering renewed activities in economic reform, support to civil society and public administration reform. The level of support has yet to be determined.
The European Commission has committed about 56 million euro to Montenegro since April 1998 for public administration reform, private sector development, agriculture, budgetary support and humanitarian aid. The UK share of this is some 17 per cent.