Lendava, 23 November 2021 – In the frame of the Government visit to Southeast Slovenia Minister for Development and EU Cohesion Policy Zvone Černač met with the mayors of the municipality of Moravske Toplice and Turnišče. In Lendava the Minister tried out the electric bike renting system by taking a bicycle ride to visit the transnational cooperation project IronCurtainCycling and the location where new housing units will be built in Lendava.
After the Government working consultation Minister Zvone Černač met with Alojz Glavan, the mayor of the municipality Moravske Toplice. The representatives of the municipality presented to the Minister the municipality’s investment plans, with the discussion also touching on the inclusion of the territorial cooperation mechanisms into the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027. The Minister assured the mayors that those mechanisms which work will also be carried out in the next financial perspective, however, they will need to be simplified in order to facilitate beneficiaries’ access to EU funding. In Moravske Toplice the Minister also visited the premises of the public company Čista narava d.o.o. that were built with the help of EU funds in the frame of the project Oasis of Health under the territorial cooperation mechanism of the Agreement on the Development of Regions.
The Minister then visited the municipality of Turnišče where he was received by the mayor Borut Horvat. They discussed the possibility of co-financing the municipality’s projects with EU funding. They also spoke about the construction of the new economic and business zone along the main arterial road that runs through the region and for which Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued grant decision. The investment will enhance the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises and promote new jobs.
In Lendava the Minister took a bicycle ride with an electric bike to visit projects that received EU funding. The electric bike renting system received European Regional Development Fund contribution and is located next to the multipurpose sports centre that still needs to be built. The Minister cycled along the IronCurtainCycling route which was implemented in collaboration between Slovenia and Hungary in the framework of the Interreg transnational programme. In addition to designing a new tourist product and the cycling route that connects the two countries, the project also covers setting up modern rest areas for cyclists, e-bicycle charging stations and lodging areas for cyclists. The Minister also visited the Lendava Residential Care Home which received support under the React EU mechanism for improving the living standard of the residents. He also visited the building of the former upper secondary students’ community where the municipality intends to set up a day centre for active ageing and sheltered housing. The Minister and the representatives of the municipality stopped at the sign that marks the location where 72 new flats will be built by the Public Housing Fund of the Republic of Slovenia with the help of EU funding.
The Minister then visited the Vinarium tower where the representatives of the municipality and the Tourist Association of Lendava presented to the Minister the development strategy for the area around the tower with all the projects for which the municipality believes will address the challenges the municipality faces in its development breakthrough.
The regional visit ended with a public consultation where the representatives of the Government met with mayors, businesspeople and other actors of economic development in the region.