After we have already had our net wages cut three times and been told that there is no money for tax relief, there still seems to be enough money for many other things, such as co-funding projects in the field of nature and biodiversity.
On Friday, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning published in the Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia a call for proposals for co-financing environmental projects in the Life programme area, or its Nature and Biodiversity sub-programme, for this year.
Previous success in the EU call for proposals is required
The Ministry said in relation to the call for proposals, which has a deadline of the 5th of September, that the Ministry will co-finance projects that will first be successful in the EU call for proposals, where projects are co-financed at a rate of 60 or 75 percent.
The multiannual environmental projects where the lead partner is a beneficiary based in our country are eligible for co-financing by the Ministry. However, according to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), “all project beneficiaries based in Slovenia are required to implement measures from the 2023-2028 Natura 2000 Management Programme for at least half of the project funds earmarked for activities in Slovenia.” Taking into account the maximum co-financing rate of 25 percent, the value of the co-financing requested must be at least 500,000 euros.
Projects may also be co-financed if the lead partner is not a beneficiary established in Slovenia. But it is necessary that “project beneficiaries based in Slovenia are required to implement measures from the 2023-2028 Natura 2000 Management Programme for at least half of the project funds earmarked for activities in Slovenia”. Taking into account the maximum co-financing rate requested, which is also 25 percent, the value of the co-financing requested must be at least 100,000 euros.
It is not yet known how much money will be available in total
The total funds available are not yet known. According to the Ministry, this will depend on the total number of approved projects.
While we are one of the countries with the highest labour burdens in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in June this year, it became clear where, among other things, the money from our wages is going. Two calls for proposals for the financing of NGOs and renewable energy sources (RES) for the wealthy were launched. On the 6th of June, the Ministry of Public Administration published a call for tenders worth 15.8 million euros, which will “co-finance sustainable jobs that will contribute to the development and professionalisation of non-governmental organisations and volunteering in Slovenia”.
The call foresees a total of 225 jobs, 110 in NGOs and 115 in voluntary organisations. In the case of renewable energy sources, the state will contribute one million euros from the state budget. Grants will be made available to companies, sole proprietors and cooperatives through a call for tenders for the purpose of co-financing “investments in the construction of new solar and wind power plants combined with or without battery storage.”
S. K.
