Q. Will any guidelines be issued by DG Near or TESIM for use in situations of breach of the Russian Federation procurement law? Russia does not have any guidelines similar to the ones adopted at EU level to protect the financial interests

A. Article 72.7 of the ENI CBC IR is applicable to the EU funding received by the beneficiaries; whereas for the funding of other parties (such as Russian Federation) the relevant Financing Agreement applies. In any case, article 72 regulates the financial corrections applied by the EC. The responsibilities of the MA are described in the article 71 – “The Managing Authority shall take into account the nature and gravity of the irregularities and the financial loss and shall apply a proportionate financial correction” and does not have direct reference to the COCOF guidance (no mention of flat rates or extrapolated financial correction). Therefore the specific criteria to be used in the case of breach of the public procurement in Russia should be jointly agreed between the concerned Managing Authorities and the National Authority.