EU PROGRES

European Partnership with Municipalities Programme – PROGRES has issued a public call for financing local infrastructure projects in 25 Programme municipalities in South and South-West Serbia.

The funds will be used to support communal infrastructure, such as water supply, sewage and heating or social infrastructure projects, which may among other things include efforts to improve conditions in schools and nurseries. Economic infrastructure projects that can help attract investors will also be considered, as well as projects supporting environmental protection. 

“The aim of this PROGRES activity is to improve the quality of life in South and South-West Serbia and contribute to creation of an enabling environment for sustainable economic development. The financial support will be awarded to best projects only. This is why it is important for the Municipalities to prepare high quality project proposals, which reflect the needs of the citizens and development priorities,” Aleksandra Radetic, Deputy Programme Manager said.

Projects can be submitted by Municipalities only, but they can be prepared in partnerships with public communal enterprises, civil society organisations or other local, regional and government institutions. The Municipalities can submit more than one project proposal, but each Municipality can get funding for maximum one project within this public call for proposals.

European Union and Swiss Government have allocated one million EUR to finance the best selected projects.  Maximum value of a single project can be 100.000 EUR, whereas the Municipalities will need to participate with at least 10% of total project value. The call for proposals is open until 28 February.

In addition to supporting local infrastructure projects, the Programme donors – European  Union, Swiss Government and Serbian Government also plan to co-finance infrastructure projects of importance to the majority of municipalities. Supporting the development of technical project documentation is also envisaged, and it is expected that the projects initiated by the municipalities and PROGRES will attract funding from other national or international donors and investors.