An additional €68 million in EU funding for economic restructuring of coal regions
EU funding to promote investment for economic restructuring in the Zasavje and Savinjsko-Šaleška coal regions | Author Andrej Tarfila (slovenia.info)
The call will co-finance investments in both tangible and intangible assets that contribute to the creation of new jobs and promote diverse, sustainable investments in the Zasavje coal region and the Savinjsko-Šaleška (SAŠA) coal region.
“By investing in the economic restructuring of coal regions, we want to mitigate the consequences of abandoning coal use. Our primary goal is to provide residents of coal regions who are transitioning to other industries due to the green transition with jobs that offer higher added value within the local environment. Therefore, the primary objectives of EU funding in coal regions are to increase added value per employee, enhance investment, diversify the economy, and reduce the regions’ dependence on fossil fuels. This is the second approval of EU funding this week, enabling investment in the economic restructuring of the Zasavje and Savinjsko-Šaleška coal regions. The total value of both approvals is €83 million,” underlined Minister for Cohesion and Regional Development Dr. Aleksander Jevšek.
The call for proposals to promote investments for economic restructuring in the Zasavje and Savinjsko-Šaleška coal regions under the Just Transition Fund for the period 2025-2028 is implemented under Slovenia’s EU Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027, priority Restructuring of coal regions and pursues the specific objective Just Transition Fund.
The total funding allocated for the implementation of the call for proposals is €68,700,000, namely €26,200,000 in the Zasavje coal region and €42,500,000 in the SAŠA coal region. The funds will come from the Just Transition Fund.
The call for proposals, which contributes to the achievement of the objectives set out in Slovenia’s EU Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027, will be published by the Slovenian Public Agency for Entrepreneurship, Internationalisation, Foreign Investments and Technology in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia on 3 October 2025.