GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

BAFO

Best And Final Offer, a second stage bid in a public procurement competition.

 

Board (of Directors)

The EIB Board of Directors which has sole power to take decisions in respect of loans, guarantees and borrowings.

 

CD

EIB's Management Committee (q.v.)

CA

EIB's Board (q.v.)

Centre of Expertise

Horizontal unit within OPS to disseminate skills and expertise in key areas of activity, e.g. PPPs.

Chinese Walls

A set of procedures and protocols established within an organisation to avoid conflicts of interest when dealing with competing clients.

 

Concession

A  contract  between  the  Promoter  and  the  Provider (Concessionaire) to provide a specified service or facility (e.g. a road) over a specified period, with payments being made by end-users.

 

EIB

European Investment Bank

 

EIRR

Economic Internal Rate of Return

Eurostat

European Union institution responsible for the collection and analysis of EU-wide statistical information.

EV

EIB Operations Evaluation (Ex-Post)

FI

EIB Finance Directorate

Financial Close

The point at which commercial and financing contracts have been signed and conditions precedent to the first debt drawdown have been fulfilled

 

FIRR

Financial Internal Rate of Return

 

IDC

Interest During Construction

JU

EIB Legal Directorate

Management Committee

Internal EIB committee, comprising the Bank's President and Vice-Presidents

 

O&M

Operation and Maintenance

 

OPS

EIB Directorate for Lending Operations (OPerationS)

Ops-A

EIB Directorate for Lending Operations - EU Member Countries

Ops-B

EIB Directorate for Lending Operations - Other Countries

PFI

Private Finance Initiative, a term primarily used in the UK for PPP projects

 

PJ

EIB ProJects Directorate - Responsible for the ex-ante techno-economic analysis of the projects and physical monitoring of implementation and completion.

 

PIN

See RQ

PPP

Public-Private Partnership - see §2.1

Project

A clearly-defined investment in physical assets, e.g. a specific section of road, a bridge, etc.

Project Finance

A loan made primarily against the cash flows generated by the project, rather than relying on a corporate balance sheet, the security value of the physical assets, or other forms of security.

Promoter

Normally the persona responsible for identifying, developing, implementing and operating a project. Specifically on PPPs, the Promoter is the public-sector awarding authority responsible for identifying and developing the project, managing the PPP process, and the signatory to the PPP contract.

Provider

The persona responsible for the implementation and operation of a PPP project, under the PPP contract with the Promoter.

PSC

Public Sector Comparator: A procedure by which a Promoter seeks to compare the total cost of creating, operating and maintaining a piece of public infrastructure using the PPP mechanism as opposed to using direct public-sector procurement.

Real Toll

Payment mechanism whereby the Provider's revenues come directly from the users of the infrastructure, e.g. roads, bridges.

RM

EIB Risk Management Directorate, responsible for credit appraisal and portfolio management

RQ/PIN

Relevé Quotidien/Preliminary Information Note - Note which formally launches the project cycle within the Bank, outlining the main characteristics of the proposed operation.

Shadow Toll

Payment mechanism whereby the Provider's revenues come from the Promoter, based on usage of the project, rather than the end-user directly.

SPV

Special Purpose Vehicle - A company, with its own legal persona, set up for limited set of specific purposes, e.g. to borrow for the construction of a project, to place contracts for construction and maintenance, and to receive remuneration.

 

Swap (Interest Rate Swap)

A hedging contract to convert a variable interest rate into a fixed rate.

 

TA

Technical Adviser - Engineering consultants retained by the lenders to monitor technical and engineering aspects of the project.

 

TENs

Trans-European Networks. Priority transport and communication links for the European union

 

Turnkey (contract)

A contract for the design and construction of a complete project.

UKIDE

EIB Lending department responsible for UK, Ireland and Denmark

 

VfM

Value for Money. A measure of the economic efficiency of a project.