Kalinak: Ministry to Prepare Special Call for Villages up to 1,000 Inhabitants

Zvolen, February 25 (TASR) - The Investments, Regional Development and Informatisation Ministry will prepare a special call for small municipalities up to 1,000 inhabitants financed from the state budget, head of the Villages Chamber of the Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS) Bozena Kovacova and ministry's state secretary Michal Kalinak told a press conference on Tuesday following a meeting of the chamber. Representatives of the ZMOS Villages Chamber pointed out that Slovakia is a predominantly rural country, therefore it should be a common goal to increase the use of European resources in smaller municipalities and thus improve the quality of life of a large part of the population. "Especially municipalities have a problem with the drawing of EU funds. We need small villages to develop, not just large agglomerations," said Kovacova. The new call for municipalities with up to 1,000 inhabitants is to be called Living Countryside and will be financed from the state budget. The ministry intends to present more details on the amount of allocated funds, conditions and purpose of the call in the nearest future. The Investments Ministry state secretary said that they want to cooperate with representatives of municipalities on how to get EU funds to the Slovak countryside, as well as on the preparation of the state strategy for regional development. "We are one of the few countries in the Council of Europe where the countryside is not anchored in any law or strategy. Ninety-six per cent of local authorities in Slovakia are villages and we must help them," stressed Kalinak. am/mcs