Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr. Aleksander Jevšek attended the opening of this year's edition of the international trade fair for construction Megra as keynote speaker. In his remarks, the Minister underlined that the trade fair offered not only excellent business opportunities to businesses and individuals in the construction industry but also served as a platform to explore avenues to advance technological development in many areas. On this occasion, the Minister awarded environmental certifications Quality Label in Construction 2024.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the Call for proposals for the implementation of integrated support services for innovative individuals and innovative start-ups 2024-2025 (Start-up consortium) and for the project Small scale incentives via vouchers. The call for proposals and the vouchers will make a total of 21.16 million euros available for start-ups and innovative entrepreneurs.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development hosted a panel discussion on the opportunities offered by EU cohesion policy in tackling RDI challenges and needs. This was the third event of this kind; the previous two put spotlight on opportunities for young and old people.

On Friday, 29 March 2024, the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development published the first amendment of the invitation to prepare agreements for the development of regions. The agreements will serve as the basis for co-financing projects under European Cohesion Policy objectives in 12 development regions. “The agreements for the development of regions are an important form of allocating EU funding in accordance with the bottom-up principle,” said Minister Dr Aleksander Jevšek.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the project Raising the level of bilingual education of the Hungarian national community in Slovenia and the Slovenian national community in Hungary.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has issued two grant decisions for boosting employment, namely for the project Boosting employment – Zaposli.me+ and for the Call for proposals to co-finance social activation+ projects.

The Slovenian Regional Development Fund has published the call for proposals BIZI Liquidity Energy. The call for proposals, published on the Fund’s website, aims to ensure business entities' liquidity in light of the energy crisis and improve their competitiveness, productivity, and technological equipment by implementing measures to control energy consumption and energy loss.

An event marking the official opening of the revamped nursing home, the largest of its kind in the Pomurje region, was held in Rakičan. The renovation of the nursing home’s central unit was co-funded by the European Union. In his welcoming remarks, Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development dr. Aleksander Jevšek underscored that the renovated and modernised nursing home makes an important contribution to improving the quality of life of seniors and of the elderly care in the region.

The 5th session of the Slovenia-Friuli Venezia Giulia Joint Committee that was co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Tanja Fajon and the President of the Region Friuli Venezia Giulia Massimiliano Fedriga was held in Trieste. The State Secretary at the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development also participated in the meeting.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the project Strengthening the network of offices for employers. The project will receive support from the European Social Fund Plus.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the project Content support to accelerate the global and sustainable growth of innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – DevelopmentPlus Programme.

Minister Jevšek presented the report on the implementation of the European Cohesion Policy (ECP) for 2014–2020 and 2021–2027: “Slovenia concluded the 2014-2020 ECP as one of the more successful EU Member States. We have utilised all the available funds intended for people, the economy and balanced regional development. In 2023, we started implementing the 2021-2027 ECP, and have already issued decisions on support worth EUR 334 million.”

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the project Upgrading the SOVIR system for early warning, awareness-raising and adaptation to weather-related emergencies in a changing climate.

Today, the Minister for Slovenians in Neighbouring Countries and Slovenians Abroad Matej Arčon and the Minister for Cohesion and Regional Development Aleksander Jevšek attended the signing ceremony of the Letter of Intent to establish the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Kras-Carso, which took place at the Regional Palace in Trieste, Italy.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the project Public employee training for obtaining competencies of the future.

A meeting of the Development Council of the Western Slovenia cohesion region was held in Koper. The Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development, Dr Aleksander Jevšek, presented the state of play of European Cohesion Policy implementation. He highlighted the drafting of the Regional Development Agreement for which approximately EUR 460 million is available under the 2021-2027 programming period.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the Call for proposals to co-finance multigenerational centres+’ projects.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved EU funding for the call for proposals Incentives for innovative start-ups in 2024.

The kick-off conference of the EUSAIR governance support projects was held in Zagreb today. The conference was attended by the ministers for cohesion from Slovenia and Croatia Aleksander Jevšek and Šime Erlić. The ministers highlighted the importance of cooperation among the countries in the Adriatic and Ionian Region and talked about the strategic cross-border project on flood risk management in Slovenia and Croatia.

“The EU has allocated a lot of money to Slovenia for a healthy and clean environment under the European Cohesion Policy for the period 2021-2027. In total, almost 800 million euros is earmarked for the objective A greener, low-carbon Slovenia, with the Savinjsko- Šaleška region being eligible also for the funding under the Just Transition Fund,” said Minister Jevšek in his address at the international conference on green space management in Velenje.