7,5 Billion Euros For the Southern and Southwestern Serbia

19. July 2012.

Projects for the development of economic infrastructure, which have been funded by the European Union and the Government of Switzerland through the Program of the European Partnership with Municipalities EU PROGRESS for two years, should enable the investment of 7, 5 million euros in the South and Southwest Serbia.

In addition, it is expected that under these projects at least 1, 400 jobs will be created within three to five years; it was said yesterday at the second annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the EU's PROGRESS. As stated at the meeting, the preparation of plans and technical documents, with support from the EU PROGRESS, should be the main driver of a positive change in the economy, because it could attract the additional investment of 90 million euros.

Representatives of the EU's PROGRESS also spoke about the great impact of infrastructure projects on the lives of ordinary people: in addition to job creation and facilitated future investment in the local social and infrastructure projects, 680 children from the waiting list for the kindergarten will be taken care of and the energy efficiency in schools with 4,500 students and teaching staff will be improved. The adequate sanitary conditions for 160 sellers of agricultural and dairy products will be provided through the local community infrastructure projects, while 3, 500 households will get quality drinking water. Furthermore, it is expected that the local environmental infrastructure projects will improve sanitary conditions and reduce health risks for 5,000 citizens who live near unregulated rivers, which will create a 15 per cent savings in their energy bills.

“We realize that there are problems with the capacities of the local self-governments, so that we should discuss how to take into account all the projects in order to achieve the planned impact. We thank the Office for European Integration on the excellent work regarding the presiding over of the Board of Directors, "said Martin Kern, Chief of Operations of the EU Delegation in Serbia.

At yesterday’s meeting, board member approved the financial support for 29 projects included in the second round of the Fund's call for citizen participation, the total value of which is 248. 000 euros, as well as 5 projects for developing the planning of documents, the total value of which is 180. 000 euros.

The working meeting was attended by representatives of the Office for European Integration of the Serbian government and the relevant ministries, 25 municipalities participating in the implementation of EU PROGRESS, representatives of development agencies and projects, civil society and donors, which include representatives of the European Union and the Government of Switzerland.

The EU PROGRESS aims at supporting the development of 25 municipalities in southern and southwestern Serbia. The European Union will allocate 14, 1 million euros for the program, the Government of Switzerland 2, 5 million euros and the Serbian Government will participate in the project with 1, 5 million euros.