Romanian-Hungarian project hingered by war, as funds hard to access by Ukrainian side

 European projects through which local public authorities in Romania and Ukraine improve their capacities for interventions in the event of disasters are difficult to implement due to the war triggered by Russia in Ukraine, in the context in which Ukrainian municipalities cannot access financial credits to ensure their co-financing.The president of the New European Generation Association, from Ismail, the Ukrainian region of Odessa, Valentin Stroia, said that the financing rules for cross-border collaboration projects have changed, and the Ukrainian authorities must now ensure a pre-financing of 15% compared to the 80% previously."Now, pre-financing is only 15% and this means that any entity, whether a local public authority or an NGO, has a cash flow. Moreover, through these rules, no exception was made for beneficiaries from Ukraine who are at war. You are only given 15%, but you have to put in three or four times more, you have to find that money, and in Ukraine it is harder. If you have not spent what you did not find or you have found 80% (in one year - editor's note), then you are taxed, depending on how much you did not spend. These rules do not attract beneficiaries from Ukraine to apply for this programme (Interreg Next)," mentioned the president of the organization New European Generation.Valentin Stroia also said that the rules applied within the Interreg Next Romania-Ukraine programme are similar to those in the Black Sea Basin programme."15% co-financing is very little. Luncavita City Hall (Tulcea County - editor's note) can take out a credit line from the bank. In Ukraine, banks do not offer credit lines to city halls to secure financing. We do not have the legislation or expertise in this direction. In the context of the war, any additional financing is much more important and useful, especially since this project is in the field of emergency situations and is tailored to our realities. When there are drone bombings, city hall representatives have to go and change broken windows, cut down fallen trees, and then this equipment is very useful," Valentin Stroia also mentioned.He recently participated, in the rural town of Luncavita, together with the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kilia, in the Ismail district, Vyacheslav Cherniavskiy, in the launch of the "Borders Prevent" project, financed by the Interreg Next Romania-Ukraine programme, through which the Ukrainian public authority will purchase two emergency response vehicles.The project "Borders Prevent - Disaster Risk Prevention Measures and the Resilience of Emergency Intervention Systems in the Romania-Ukraine Cross-border Area" aims to improve the equipment and training of three local public authorities in the Romania-Ukraine cross-border area, the Luncavita and Chilia Veche City Halls in Romania, and the Kilia City Hall in Ukraine, for intervention in the event of floods and fires, ensuring efficient emergency and rescue services for 26,093 people from both countries, including those in hard-to-reach areas, by investing in advanced equipment, facilitating the exchange of experience and organizing joint exercises, exchanges of experience, as well as by developing a joint action plan and a memorandum of cooperation.The project has about 26,000 beneficiaries, includes exchanges of experience between municipal employees in the field of emergency situations, will be completed in two years and has a total estimated budget of 1,352,527.54 euros.