Almost €250 million allocated by the EU for Belarus's accessible cross-border cooperation programmes
26/11/20100 views
On November 26, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The financial resource of Belarus's available cross-border cooperation programmes of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument for the period up to 2013 is estimated at almost 250 million euros. This was announced today in Vitebsk at the EU programmes information day in Belarus by Vladimir Belitsky, an expert on EU technical assistance programmes, BELTA correspondent reports.
Belarus participates in three cross-border cooperation projects: "Baltic Sea Region", "Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus", and "Poland-Belarus-Ukraine". The resources can be used in the implementation of national and regional socio-economic development programmes of Belarus, which will lead to a reduction in state budget expenditures for similar purposes. Therefore, it is particularly important that republican government bodies and local authorities actively participate in the projects of these programmes, along with public associations and other organisations and institutions, Vladimir Belitsky emphasised.
Participation in EU international technical assistance projects is not solely assessed by financial resources. Projects are implemented based on applications from several participants from neighbouring countries and are partnership-based, built on the principle of people-to-people communication and cooperation with colleagues. As a result of such partnerships, the capacity of participating organisations is strengthened, staff training is carried out, and information is exchanged, which serves to establish cultural and business contacts, the expert is confident.
In total, over 350 million euros are allocated for EU international technical assistance programmes for Belarus.
Vitebsk region participates in various EU technical assistance programmes. According to experts, the most successful ones have been the cross-border projects "Art Without Borders – Promotion of International Cultural Industry in the Context of Marc Chagall and Mark Rothko's Creativity" and "Tourist Region 'Bella Dvina'". Under the programme "Civic Associations and Local Authorities", the project "Housing Sector Reforms with Public Participation" was implemented. Thanks to it, Belarusian parliamentarians received constructive proposals from homeowners' associations, which were taken into account during the development of the Housing Code. Furthermore, homeowners' associations in Vitebsk, Grodno, Gomel, and Minsk regions, following the example of their German counterparts, began to establish associations and united into the International Real Estate Management Association. In addition to Belarusian associations, major management companies from Germany joined it.
Polotsk became a participant in the "Sustainable Urban Energy" programme. With the participation of EU partners, a project to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will be implemented here. It is planned that solar panels will be installed in one of the kindergartens. The implementation of this project is scheduled for two and a half years. -0-
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