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Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the original signed Annex 7 of the financial part of the interim report  shall be submitted latest with the next interim report (payment for next Interim report will not be paid before receiving the originals). Same rule applies for the signed Interim report (print from PROMAS) and payment request.  All scanned copies of the signed documents have to be submitted to the Managing Authority in order to approve the Interim report.

If you are having difficulties getting signatures to the documents to be provided to the Managing Authority, please be in contact with your project contact person, or the person checking your report in the Managing Authority. Instructions will be given on a case by case basis.

In cases where you need to contact the Managing Authority, the partners first contact the Lead Partner, after which the Lead partner contacts the Managing Authority.

Regarding meetings/events/gatherings related to project implementation during COVID-19:

• • • • • Please follow the instructions given by your organization/government.
        • Communicate closely with project partners as the instructions and restrictions differ from country to country.  
        • For the time being, the MA asks the project partners to consider using online channels, tools, working methods and ways to carry out project meetings, workshops, studies and other activities.

COVID-19 has had effects on planned project meetings and events. The planned and cancelled events are eligible when recovery from the event/meeting -service provider is not possible. When reporting the costs related to the cancelled events, there should be documentation attached, which specifies that the event/meeting costs could not be reimbursed as a whole/partially by the service provider.

If project staff members / stakeholders are travelling within the frame of the projects activities and need to show a negative COVID-19 test, those costs can be reimbursed from project budget.

COVID-19 tests costs can be reimbursed from the budget line

• Travel and accommodation 
  and/or
• External expertise and services

More information about COVID-19 test costs can be found from our news.

Please be in touch with your contact person in the Managing Authority/Norwegian branch office.

Implementation

Please check your project plan, implementation schedule, outputs and objectives. When possible, carry on implementing your project plan taking into account the restrictions in place.

Difficulties following the set schedule

It is difficult to predict how the situation will unfold, but please make an indicative plan about what can be carried out  according to the project plan, what activities  can be implemented according to the schedule but have to be modified, and what has to be postponed or even cancelled. 

Will you be able to reach the set objectives, and what measures have to be taken? Please be in touch with your project’s contact person in the Managing Authority about your situation.    

Requesting extension for the project implementation

When necessary for successful implementation of the project plan and realization of outputs, the projects can apply for prolonged implementation time. The extension should be applied not earlier than one year and not later than six months before the end of the original implementation time. 

For the time being, the extension can only be applied until 31.12.2022. The extension should be requested only in cases where delays cannot be handled otherwise. Concerning extensions please be in touch with your contact persons in the Managing Authority and Branch office.

Project partners are requested to send the Interim report (narrative and financial part) to the Managing Authority (MA) at least once a year. All project partners should contribute to the common report, but it is responsibility of the Lead Partner to compile the reports and submit them to the MA.

The budget of the project can be changed, if the changes are necessary for project implementation, reasonable, and justified.

The maximum grant referred to in the Grant Contract may not be exceeded in any case. The Lead Partner shall get in touch with the Contact person of the project in the Managing Authority about possible budget modifications.

The budget modification can be a question of either:

1) changes within the same budget line;

2) changes between the budget lines max 15%; or

3)  changes between the budget lines exceeding 15%.

To understand what is the right option for you, check the Project Implementation Manual for Kolarctic ongoing projects, chapter 11.2. Modification of the budget.

Project Implementation Manual is available at: https://kolarctic.info/materials-info/ under Material for projects.

Partners´auditor will check the tendering documents when they verify the expenditure and give the opinion of eligibility. MA will not provide prior approval of the chosen method or expenditure. MA has adviced partners to contact their auditor. 

Lead Partner must submit Interim Reports to the Managing Authority no later than 3 months after the end of the reporting period.

Interim Report for the last reporting period must be submitted together with the Final Report no later than 4 months after the end of the project implementation.

No, reporting period of the Interim Report has to be the same for every partner.

Templates for financial part of Interim report is available here https://kolarctic.info/materials-info/ under Material for projects.

The Managing Authority updates templates from time to time. Make sure that you downloaded the latest version, marked with the latest date.

Reporting the costs of partners in a different reporting period is decided by the Managing Authority on a case by case basis.

Lead Partner shall always ask for permission to merge reporting periods from the project’s Contact Person in the Managing Authority. Lead Partner shall provide the Contact person with name of Partner(s) who wants to merge reports, amounts of realised expenditure and activities. The costs of Partner shall be small and activities not significant.

The auditor verifies at least 65% of the total reported costs and at least 10% of each direct budget line.

Indirect costs are verified only against the % approved in the budget, recorded cost items (incurred costs) are not checked separately.

Lead Partner shall submit Payment request in PROMAS, print, sign and send the original signed payment request to the Managing Authority.

Lead Partner can calculate amount by himself and send the Payment request together with the Interim report to the Managing Authority. In the Payment request, the Lead Partner can request max 90% of Swedish+Russian+Finnish reported costs of the Interim report in question, while 10% of the costs stays as own contribution to the project. The MA will make the recalculation and pay the approved costs of the interim report. The MA cannot pay more than the amount requested in the payment request. 

The Lead Partner can also ask the Managing Authority for the exact amount of payment after the interim report has been approved, and send the Payment request after submitting the interim report.