Priboj and Prijepolje - EU-funded projects at local level

In Priboj, Bertolini met with the Mayor Lazar Rvović, in the Free Zone, where the conditions for doing business and attracting investments have been significantly improved with the support of the European Union over the past years. He expressed his satisfaction that the support of the EU is visible in Priboj and added that 65 percent of the legislation of the European Union has a direct impact on local self-governments, so they should have a greater role in the process of European integration.

"We are working to ensure that, as the integration process proceeds, more and more funds reach the local self-governments, because our support can be significantly greater if the national and local authorities improve their capacity to absorb the funds," said Bertolini.

He added that these funds will be even greater when the country becomes a member of the EU and that until then local self-governments should prepare and their  priority should be investing in people, especially young educated people.

The EU supported the infrastructural equipment of the Free Zone in Priboj with more than 480,000 euros to reconstruct the existing and build new water supply and hydrant network so that all users of the zone have a safe supply with technical water and drinking water, while the Administration building was completely renovated, where the roof and all carpentry were replaced.

"The zone is the driving force behind the development of Priboj and today we have 712 employees here, not counting the German investor who built a factory with a capacity of 400 people.  In addition to the zone, the EU has supported employment, entrepreneurs, women's entrepreneurship, cross-border cooperation projects and healthcare system through various projects, which are all prerequisites for the people to stay here. The help of the European Union is visible in Priboj and directly affects the quality of life", said Lazar Rvović.

In Prijepolje, the Head of the Cooperation of the EU Delegation, after a meeting with the mayor, Vladimir Babić, visited the National Heroes Park, which will be completed with the EU financial support through the EU PRO Plus programme. Bertolini said that integration into the European Union is a process that includes all citizens and all municipalities, so they should be the first to feel the benefits of this process.

"The secret is investing in young people and their capacities, language abilities and skills to deal with projects and work with partners like the European Union. I hope that investment in people will be in the focus of the new government, but also of local self-governments, because it is the only way to bring more investments and improve the lives of people in municipalities".

Bertolini added that he will definitely visit Prijepolje again as a tourist, because this is a municipality with excellent tourist content and potential.

"A large number of projects were implemented on the territory of the municipality, but we agreed that in the future that number should be significantly higher" said the Mayor of Prijepolje, Vladimir Babić, adding that the National Heroes Park renovation project is important for the citizens, and he also expressed the hope that in the future there will be new support that will enable new jobs and a better standard of living, and that the realization of all projects depends on from the readiness of the municipality.

During the visit, Nikola Bertolini also met with representatives of the Regional Development Agency "Zlatibor", which, together with the EU, implements a number of projects aimed at the development, competitiveness of companies and local self-governments, while in Prijepolje he also met with representatives of the "Women's Forum" Association, which directs its projects to the improvement and promoting gender equality.