The participants were greeted by Nuška Gajšek, Mayor of the Municipality of Ptuj, and Srečko Đurov, State Secretary at the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development. Secretary Đurov highlighted that the European Cohesion Policy is one of the most central funding sources that has propelled our country’s development. Despite the challenging circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the energy crisis, Slovenia successfully concluded the 2014-2020 programming period by fully utilizing all available funds. Mayor Gajšek echoed this sentiment, underscoring that the municipality’s ambitious projects, including the renovation of the old glassware factory, would have remained mere aspirations without the crucial support of Cohesion Policy funding. She further emphasized that the municipality’s resources are limited.

The agreement for the development of regions is an important mechanism in the frame of European Cohesion Policy that aims to strength regional development, said State Secretary at the Ministry of Regional Development Đurov. “At the end of March, we published an amendment of the invitation to prepare agreements for the development of regions for co-financing projects in 12 development regions. This is an important bottom-up mechanism of allocating Cohesion Policy funding, for which a total of around EUR 460 million is available,” said Đurov, who also took part in the main discussion on this mechanism.

Đurov pointed out that the state, the representatives of line ministries and the representatives of the regions share the same goal: “We aim to develop projects that address the needs of the people in each region and contribute to improving the quality of life.” Dr Robert Drobnič, Deputy Director of the Regional Development Directorate at the Ministry of Regional Development, said that “regional development programmes are getting better and better with each generation, primarily with the help of European Cohesion Policy.”

The final panel of the day was dedicated to the crucial role Cohesion Policy plays in supporting innovative businesses. The speakers underlined the significance of collaboration between government institutions and businesses. Alenka Marovt, the representative of the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport, shed light on the Ministry’s unwavering efforts to foster a stable support environment. She underlined: “In addition to the so-called soft instruments, we can also leverage tangible financial incentives such as subsidies, soft loans, guarantees, and equity financing. A substantial 75% of the funding comes from the EU. This year, the Ministry is set to provide EUR 339.2 million in grants to the economic sector, which will be made available through 42 calls for proposals.”

“For 2024, we plan to offer incentives, calls for proposals and invitations worth EUR 177 million. We plan to support 3,800 projects and investments worth EUR 233 million,” said Rok Huber, Head of the Sector for Special Development Incentives at the Slovene Enterprise Fund.