Consultations are underway on the ‘Government Programme for the Development of North-Eastern Border Areas 2024-2030’. Thanks to it, local authorities from the Podkarpackie, Lubelskie, Podlaskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodeships can receive funding for the construction and renovation of local roads, water and sewage investments or the expansion of schools and kindergartens.
“The government should adopt the programme within the next few weeks. We will have the first 100 million PLN available for its implementation this year”, said Deputy Minister for Funds and Regional Policy Jacek Protas during a conference in Lublin, where government proposals were consulted.
As a result of consultations with local government officials, the programme’s area of support has increased. The programme will cover 25 poviats from four voivodeships: Podkarpackie, Lubelskie, Podlaskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie. Altogether, this includes 184 municipalities and four cities with poviat rights – Suwałki, Przemyśl, Biała Podlaska and Chełm.
The government has designated four main operations to be supported in the programme. They include improving transport road infrastructure and road safety; developing green and blue infrastructure for environmental protection; creating conditions for the development of sustainable tourism; and improving educational, health and social infrastructure.
“This will be a real help in the border areas, which are very much affected by the current situation. It is not only about the voivodeships which have a war border with Ukraine, but also about the Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Podlaskie regions which have a border in the form of the Iron Curtain,” announced Deputy Minister Protas.
The source of funding for the programme’s implementation will be money from a special purpose reserve in the state budget amounting to 500 million PLN, of which each voivodship will receive 125 million PLN. The maximum amount of funding under one application is 2 million PLN. One local government may receive grants for the implementation of a maximum of two investment tasks.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński