Irish civil engineering specialist, Project Management Group, has won €15 million worth of consultancy contracts with southeastern European governments in the last six months.

The firm, best-known for its work on large-scale civil engineering and building developments in this country, has branched out into providing consultancy services for the governments and civil services of countries gearing up for EU membership.

Project Management, which turns over €130 million a year, expects to do €20 million worth of business, around 15 per cent of its total, in eastern Europe in 2007.

According to director, Michael Shelly, around €6 million of this will come from specialised consultancy services that it is providing to pre-EU accession states in the Balkans.

It has won contracts worth €15 million in this region over the last six months. These contracts will run for up to three years. The countries include Macedonia, Turkey, Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Brussels provides cash to these states to develop their government and public service structures to bring them up to a high standard before joining the union.

"What we provide is simply management consultancy services," Mr Shelly said. "We work mainly with their civil services and governments."

He explained that the company looks at the management structures and systems these states and their governments have in place, and advises on bringing them into line with best practice and modernising them.

Project Management also advises on environmental services and sustainability and is involved in a number of forestry management projects, including one joint venture with State company, Coillte.

Many of the countries are former communist states, and have had problems with corruption. Mr Shelly said they were dealing with this. "Many of the people working for those governments are very good, they just have to develop the expertise," he said.

The company has been working in this field for the last decade. It began in eastern Europe and has an office in Poland, but has shifted the focus of this element of the business to the current crop of pre-accession states.

It will use this as a jumping-off point for developing its civil engineering business when the countries join the EU, benefit from cohesion funds and begin developing their infrastructure.