Press Release: 6.4 million Eur to the municipalities in the north from the North Kosovo Development Fund

Within the North Kosovo Development Fund, 18 projects were approved to the North Kosovo municipalities, with the total value of around 6.4 million Eur, as presented by the research done jointly by the Institute for Territorial Economic Development (InTER) and RTV Mir from Leposavić.

According to the Research, most funds were allocated to the Municipality of North Mitrovica, where 5 project proposals were approved with the value of 2,915,190 Eur. The projects are: Expropriation of land for the construction of a new municipal building, Construction of a fire station, Support to small and medium-sized enterprises, Construction of a sports hall and the Establishment of the Regional Cultural Institute.

For the Municipality of Zvecan, 6 projects were approved with total value of 1,286,848 Eur. The projects are: Expropriation of land for access road to the regional landfill, Support to civil society organisations through sport and cultural activities, Support to small and medium-sized enterprises, Support to farms and agriculture development, Construction of a Youth Centre and expropriation of land for construction, and Cleaning of illegal industrial landfill Gater.

For the Municipality of Zubin Potok, the following projects were approved: Construction of an indoor pool, Construction of athletics arena and Reconstruction of a network of regional roads. Total value for these three projects is 988,532 Eur.

For the Municipality of Leposavić, funds were approved for 4 projects with the value of 1,186,379 Eur. They are: Support to small and medium-sized enterprises and agricultural development, Construction and reconstruction of facilities for cultural and sports activities, Construction and reconstruction of non-categorised local roads and Furnishing of a kindergarten.

Finances for the North Kosovo Fund are provided from customs fees collected on border crossings Jarinje and Brnjak, and its purpose is support to socio-economic development of the North Kosovo municipalities. So far, 9.4 million Eur was collected, and municipalities can apply at any moment with projects to be financed from this Fund.

Research findings and impact of investments from the North Kosovo Fund will be the subject of a public debate that will take place on Wednesday, 22 June at 18h, in the Civic Energy Center in North Mitrovica. The debate will be organised as a TV show “Crno Beli Svet”, which will be broadcasted on RTV Mir and channels of the Independent TV Network.

Apart from the research on the projects financed by the North Kosovo Development Fund, InTER and RTV Mir have also conducted researches about impact of the projects financed by the European Union and the Government of Kosovo in the Municipalities of North Mitrovica, Zvečan, Zubin Potok and Leposavić. Results of these researches will be the subject of debates organised by InTER and RTV Mir in the following weeks.

Research and public debates are carried out within the project "Impact of investments in the North Kosovo after the Brussels Agreement – do we live better?", implemented by InTER in cooperation with RTV Mir, and financed by Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (KFOS). The project is implemented between 15 January and 15 July.