The Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Zakarpattia region hosted an event with the participation of the heads of hromadas of the region dedicated to the establishment of cross-border cooperation and opportunities for municipalities to attract international technical assistance funds. The event was attended by Eduard Buraš, Chairman of the FEMAN Association, Advisor to the Minister of Economy of Slovakia.
Eduard Buraš expressed his readiness to further support initiatives to develop partnerships between municipalities of the Slovak Republic and Ukraine. The European speaker discussed the technical details involved in initiating twinning and various other forms of partnerships between Ukrainian territories and European Union states.
He also shared practical experience in organizing cooperation and successful cross-border cooperation projects between Slovakia and Ukraine. He emphasized the need to identify common interests for effective municipal partnerships.
According to Pavlo Logvinov, Head of the Regional Office, today there are new opportunities for the Zakarpattia region to attract financial resources in the form of projects from international funds.
He emphasized that project fundraising is a complex work that requires special training of employees, coordinated work of structural units, understanding of the priority areas of municipal development, and establishing and maintaining business relations with municipalities in partner countries:
"Attracting international technical assistance allows municipalities to improve the safety, conditions and quality of life of their residents, which should be a priority for each municipality, given limited financial resources. It is the cooperation of Zakarpattia region hromadas with U-LEAD with Europe that allows them to develop their own potential, attract financial resources from international funds and establish cross-border cooperation."
Hanna Tsimbolynets, Director of the Zakarpattia Regional Development Agency, also joined the event and presented the opportunities for local hromadas under the updated Interreg NEXT cross-border cooperation programs for 2021-2027.
She spoke about the key changes in the Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine, Poland-Ukraine, and Romania-Ukraine programs: financing, co-financing, reporting, etc. Special attention was paid to the Interreg Europe program and the opportunities it provides for regional development.
During the event, Halyna Loboda, Head of the Department for Euroregional Cooperation of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration, shared the successful practices of Zakarpattia municipalities in attracting international technical assistance funds in partnership with the EU municipalities. She emphasized the peculiarities of hromadas' participation in competitions to attract extrabudgetary funds in the coming years and the current opportunities for project activities, taking into account donor priorities.
Uliana Hurchumelia, Deputy Head of the Department for International and Regional Relations of the Executive Office of the Zakarpattia Regional Council, in her speech to the hromadas of the region, outlined the benefits for municipaloties in participating in competitions to attract international assistance and further priorities in the selection of local government projects by donors. Hromadas were informed about the possibilities of effective cooperation between the Zakarpattia Regional Council to support the process of finding partners.
At the meeting, the municipalities received systematic information on defining the purpose and areas of cooperation, searching for potential partners through international networks and organizations from Advisor of the Office for Municipal Governance and Recovery, Serhiy Terel. The advisor provided information on finding partners and establishing cooperation between municipalities of different countries. Particular attention was paid to the procedure for formalizing partnerships by signing memorandums, contracts or cooperation agreements and what types of partnerships should be approved by local councils.
As Pavlo Logvinov, Head of the Regional Office, summarized, the experience presented and the recommendations provided will help municipalities establish effective international cooperation and intensify the attraction of additional resources for the development of hromadas in the Zakarpattia region.