BREST, 21 January (BelTA) – Applications for the first grant of the program of territorial cooperation between Belarus and Ukraine financed by the European Union opened on 20 January, BelTA learned from Yekaterina Kosykh, the director of the Brest Transboundary Infocenter.
The program of international technical assistance is implemented in the regions along the border between Belarus and Ukraine. It is aimed at making maximum use of the regions' cooperation potential. Partaking in the program are Belarus' Brest Oblast and Gomel Oblast and Ukraine's Volyn Oblast, Kiev Oblast, Zhitomir Oblast, Chernigov Oblast, and Rovno Oblast. To be eligible for the grant, a project should be cross-border and involve at least one partner from each participating country.
The projects must be aimed at social and economic development of the border regions, improvement of living standards in local communities, and also tacking common problems in such areas as environment, employment, healthcare, and others. They are to be of common interest to the regions and contribute to the strengthening of cross-border cooperation. Culture, education, and sport are also viewed as promising cooperation areas. The projects are expected to generate results on both sides of the border.
Regional and local government bodies, non-governmental and not-for-profit organizations implementing projects of national importance can apply for the grant. For-profit projects are not eligible for the funding. Project implementation term must be from nine to eighteen months.
The total budget of the program is €3.3 million. The financial contribution from the European Union cannot exceed 90% of the total eligible costs of the project. The rest is to be co-funded from other sources. The grants range from €60,000 to €250,000.
Special info-days will be held for potential applicants in the regions participating in the program. Brest will host such meeting on 1 February, Pinsk on 2 February, and Gomel on 3 February.
The applications for the grant will be open through 19 April 2016.
