A large cross-border cooperation programme will finance their Environment and Healthcare projects with EU funding.

The call for applications of municipalities from the western oblasts of Ukraine for the Interreg NEXT Poland-Ukraine 2021-2027 Cross-Border Cooperation Programme (hereinafter the Programme) will be open shortly.

The Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Rivne oblast held an info session about the launch of the Programme for over 200 municipal officials.

According to Vasyl Khimyak, Senior Expert of the Representative Office of the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Programme in Lviv, partners from Poland and Ukraine from the regions specified in the terms and conditions are eligible for the competition.

“In Ukraine, local self-government bodies and other non-profits from the Rivne, Volyn, Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk and Zakarpattia oblasts can submit their applications. Partnerships should be key in the process of submitting project applications,” he said.

The total budget of the Programme in the fourth financial period for 2021-2027 is €187.4 million, €170.3 million of which is allocated for the projects themselves. Five main priorities have been identified: Environment, Healthcare, Tourism, Cooperation and Borders.

As was emphasised by Vasyl Khimyak, in 2023 applications will be accepted only in two directions, Environment and Health. The call for applications starts in May and will be open until 31 July 2023.

“Although other priorities will not be considered this year, municipalities can already start work on finding partners, preparing projects and filling out applications. These processes are complex and lengthy,” he advised.

All projects are divided into three groups: large infrastructural, regular and small. The expert added that “hard components” related to construction, procurement or other types of activities should preferably be combined with “soft” components such as training or other activities that are largely people-centric.

Municipal officials learned that the European Union will finance 90% of the projects, and the other 10% should be provided by partners. Discussions are currently underway regarding 100% funding from the European Community, given the war in Ukraine, but the final decision has not yet been made.

Municipalities willing to participate in the competition will be able to receive comprehensive training in June. Forums on finding partners will also be held in Poland, and representatives from Ukraine will be able to participate. All information and a package of documents will soon be published on the Programme’s website under the PL-UA 2021-27 tab.