Skopje, 23 September 2024 (MIA) - Minister of Local Self-Government Zlatko Perinski, during an interview with 360 Degrees on MRT 1, revealed that the evaluation of municipal projects for the allocation of 100 million euros will start tomorrow, as the submission deadline closes today.

The Ministry of Local Self-Government had issued a public call for the allocation of 100 million euros. The projects were submitted to six relevant ministries: Culture and Tourism, Transport, Social Policy, Education, Environment, and Sports.

"We expect that this process will not take longer than seven to ten days. This means that by the middle of next week, we should have a report ready from the relevant ministries on which projects in their sectors will receive funding. We aim to make some of these funds available to the municipalities as quickly as possible, so they can implement them within this year. In certain municipalities, winter comes much earlier than in others,” Perinski said.

He said that if the reports are finalized by the middle of next week, they will promptly be put on the agenda for a government session to reach a final decision.

The selection criteria for the projects are focused on two key factors - distribution of the secured funds according to the population count in each municipality, based on the latest census in the Republic of North Macedonia; full project documentation, with all required permits and approvals, and a revised project cost estimate dated within the last 12 months.

In response to the question from 360 Degrees about why the government opted for two general criteria instead of clearer, stricter, and more specific ones to make the selection process more objective, Perinski replied that the goal is for the entire 100 million euros to be utilized.

When asked whether we will see donated projects in this process, Perinski stated that there have been such cases in the past-certain companies, taking advantage of the financial difficulties of local governments, donate projects and favor a particular firm that is expected to implement the project in the future.

"I sincerely hope we won't have such cases, and to prevent this in the future, the Ministry of Local Self-Government, through UNDP as the implementing agency, with the support of the Swedish government, is offering local governments, especially those unable to finance projects, to design them with our funds," he said.

Photo: MIA archive