Having conducted an in depth analysis of the regional needs and opportunities, and having revisited its goals and objectives, The Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation (BST) has defined its new regional and in-country funding priorities. The Trust will continue to fund projects in the nine countries in the Wider Black Sea region:

• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Bulgaria
• Georgia
• Moldova
• Romania
• Turkey
• Ukraine
• Southern Russia (Krasnodar and Rostov regions, and the autonomous republics)

In Ukraine, BST will fund both regional and in-country projects in three main programmatic areas:

• Cross-Border Initiatives
• Eastern Links
• Civic Participation (civic participation projects are in-country projects)

Cross-Border Initiatives:

Cross-Border Initiatives seeks to encourage public, private, and nonprofit policy and civic entities to develop programs that promote regional cooperation and stability through funding initiatives aimed at, among others:

• Arranging cross-border dialogues among governmental entities, civic organizations, and policy institutes
• Facilitating an exchange of best practices in key economic and governmental policy areas, as well as among citizens and nonprofit groups
• Exploring ways to lower the physical and legal barriers between countries in the Black Sea region
• Promoting regional-wide efforts to build political, cultural, and economic networks
• Promoting regional security and development

Involvement of additional partners (especially those from the EU) is possible and welcome.

Eastern Links:

Eastern Links programmatic area attempts to establish linkages between groups from Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic states with their Black Sea counterparts to share expertise, experience and information that are essential in promoting the political, social, and economic development necessary for long-term stability in the region.

The involvement of additional partners (especially those from the EU) is possible and welcome.

Eastern Links projects may focus on the following areas:

• Creation of linkages between new EU member states and the countries of the Black Sea region
• Expansion of expertise and resources available to the countries of the Black Sea region in good governance
• Facilitation of mechanisms that allow for information exchange
• Linking of existing knowledge and expertise in economic reform

Civic Participation:

Civic participation projects are in-country projects. In Ukraine, BST encourages projects that focus on:

• Monitoring of Parliament
• Alternative media

Eligibility criteria, description of granting process and application forms may be found at: http://www.gmfus.org/grants-fellowships/grantmaking-programs/black-sea-trust/