The European Commission has allocated Euro 20-million grant to Macedonia for the development of agriculture and rural municipalities that is set to be used as part of two projects – the first one is intended for infrastructural projects in rural municipalities and the second one for irrigation as part of the IPARD program. Under these two contracts, rural municipalities will get 240,000 euros each and urban municipalities 120,000 euros each.

Deputy PM and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski, Deputy PM for EU affairs Fatmir Besimi, EU Ambassador Aivo Orav and World Bank’s representative to Macedonia, Bekim Imeri, signed Monday the documents.

In addition to the first grant agreement estimated at 15.5 million euros of EU funds, Macedonia from the budget will single out 5.2 million euros with which the total sum for rural development will be 20.7 million euros, said Deputy PM Stavreski. The project, he added, aims to better absorb the EU funds intended for Macedonia through the 2013 IPA structural funds i.e. the fifth IPA component for rural improvement and development

“Based on previous experiences with the World Bank and the already established practices on implementing similar projects, such as the Municipal Service Improvement Project (MSIP), part of the IPA funds for rural development will be administered by the World Bank and in terms of operation activities, the project will be realized by the MSIP unit at the Finance Ministry. The project supports equal regional development and rural development… It coincides with the priorities of the Macedonian government and with those of the European agenda on equal regional development,” said Stavreski.

A bulk of the funds from this project, implemented for the first time ever, will be used for investments in infrastructural projects, including water management, waste water treatment, solid waste treatment, construction and rehabilitation of local roads and streets, basic infrastructure securing access to power, energy efficiency, street lightning, construction of resorts, kindergartens, youth cultural centers, etc.

The funds are non-repayable and based on current preparations, a call will be issued by the end of the month at which municipalities will be able to apply to use these funds.

The EU is awarding 20 million euros for the two agreements supporting the pre-accession projects on rural development, according to EU Ambassador Orav.

The first project will be implemented with the World Bank and the Finance Ministry as mayors will play a crucial role in selecting projects after consulting citizens. The second one is intended for irrigation and is set to be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management. The project aims at finding and preparing small irrigation projects that are environmentally-friendly and with low investment costs.

“By signing these two agreements, 23 million euros from the EU and national funds will be directly allocated to rural areas and their citizens. I believe this is an excellent opportunity to reaffirm that Europe is taking care of the rural population and agriculture, not only in the EU, but also in other countries,” Orav stated.

Today’s package consisting two IPA financing agreements is part of the current IPA 2007-2013 and it concludes the cycle envisaging 67 million euros for agriculture and rural development, according to Deputy PM Besimi.

“With these funds for rural infrastructure, Macedonia goes hand in hand with the EU countries regarding climate changes and water management. Namely, 2 million euros are intended to identify and locate Macedonia’s capacities to use and introduce irrigation systems in the most efficient manner. This will additionally be of great assistance for IPA 2 where 106 million euros are envisaged which are also non-repayable EU funds for 2014-2020,” concluded Besimi.