Minister Zvone Černač and State Secretary mag. Monika Kirbiš Rojs visit the Goriška region
- Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy
After the government working meeting, Minister Zvone Černač met with mayor of Brda Franc Mužič and vice mayor Teja Jelina. Local officials presented the projects in the pipeline for the upcoming programming for which they wish to receive EU support or funding from the Recovery and Resilience Facility. In Dobrovo, the minister visited a business zone construction site; the relevant utility infrastructure will be installed on the site, and access roads constructed thanks to the EU funding. The business zone will foster the development and operation of regional micro enterprises and SMEs, which will help boost economic activity in the region and create jobs. The EUR 1.1 million project will receive nearly EUR 851,000 from the European Regional Development Fund.
Minister Zvone Černač joined Prime Minister Janez Janša to visit the municipality Vipava. They met with mayor of Vipava Goran Kodelja and member of parliament Eva Irgl. They discussed the recently approved EU-funded project designed to increase flood resilience and flood protection in the Vipava River basin. The EUR 7.8 million project which will be carried out by the Slovenian Water Agency will receive EUR 6.6 million from the Cohesion Fund. On this occasion, Minister Černač underlined the importance of EU funds: '' In the past year alone, over EUR 1.2 billion from the European Investment and Structural Funds have been mobilised to support the implementation of concrete projects. Construction sites are springing up like mushrooms across Slovenia. This trend will continue in the future. Construction projects are underway in literally all municipalities. In your region alone, nearly 200 different projects have been carried out or are underway – they have helped improve the quality of life of the residents. The project of flood protection in the Vipava River basin will improve the security of 201 residents in flood-prone areas of municipalities Vipava, Šempeter-Vrtojba and Renče-Vogrsko, with 40 buildings no longer at risk of flooding thanks to structural measures that will be put in place.'' According to the minister, local development is the key element supporting the overall development of the country, that is why the government will keep providing EU funding for quality local and regional projects.
The minister also stopped at the Dr Franc Berganc General Hospital in Nova Gorica before attending a panel discussion featuring ministers, mayors, businessmen and other regional development players.
State Secretary Kirbiš Rojs visited Tolmin and Idrija in the scope of the government visit to the Goriška region. She stopped in Tolmin to meet mayor of Tolmin Uroš Brežan, director of Posočje Development Center Simon Škvor and director of the Walk of Peace in the Soča Region Foundation Maša Klavora. They discussed the opportunities the upcoming programming period brings and visited the EU-funded projects carried out in the municipality. In Idrija, the State Secretary met with vice mayor Kristjan Brus, director of municipal administration Gregor Prezelj and director of Idrija-Cerkno Development Agency mag. Jožica Lazar to discuss the areas and planned projects for which the municipality is seeking EU support and the funding opportunities for local projects under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.