748 local development projects with a total value of 3.78 billion lei are applying for participation in the national program “European Village 2024”.
During a press conference on Monday, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spinu said that more than 80% of the country's mayors had submitted applications to participate in the next stage of the program. About 42% of all projects (315 projects worth 7.6 million lei) are related to requests for financing for the construction of water supply and sewerage systems; 21% (161 projects worth 4.1 million lei) - aimed at the reconstruction of public buildings, including measures to improve energy efficiency; 15% (113 projects worth 3.3 million lei) were announced with the aim of modernizing sports and leisure infrastructure; 9% (66 projects worth 2.7 million lei) - provide for the restoration of cultural centers or historical monuments; 8% (59 projects worth 1.7 million lei) concern the installation of public lighting systems; 5% (34 projects worth 1.8 million lei) are aimed at installing energy production systems from renewable sources. About 40% of applications were submitted by mayors of the Central region, 34% - of the Northern region, 21% - of the Southern region. About 3% of applications came from ATU Gagauzia and about 2% from the municipality of Chisinau. According to Andrei Spinu, the project evaluation stage will follow: the National Office for Regional and Local Development will conduct an administrative evaluation in accordance with established procedures. Projects will also be assessed from a technical and financial point of view. In total, several evaluation criteria are provided, including the importance of the project, compliance with national, sectoral, regional and local development strategies. The final results of the assessment are planned to be presented by the end of June. Recall that this is the second round of the European Village program launched by the government. It provides support for development projects initiated by local administrations. Depending on the number of residents, localities can receive government funding from 1 million to 3 million lei, without any investment on their part. It is also possible to finance up to 85% of the project cost, if it is up to 10 million lei, the remaining 15% must be contributed by local authorities. Applications for participation ended on March 29. As part of the previous edition of the European Village program, as well as the European Village Express program, 730 of the 900 selected projects were implemented. Since 2022, about 800 km of water pipelines, 100 km of sewer networks and 12 treatment plants, more than 700 km of street lighting have been built, and more than 330 social buildings (kindergartens, schools, cultural centers, etc.) have been renovated. More than a million residents of the country have become beneficiaries of these projects. // 08.04.2024 — InfoMarket
