24 May 2024, Nazarje
Today, the Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for the Promotion of Investment, Entrepreneurship and Internationalisation (SPIRIT) published a public call for proposals in the Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia to promote investment in the economic restructuring of the Zasavje and SAŠA coal mining regions under the Just Transition Fund. A total of EUR 68.7 million in non-repayable funds will be allocated to both regions, which represents the highest amount for an individual measure by the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport in 2024.
The purpose of the call is to encourage economic restructuring by co-financing large, sustainable, and diverse investments that will contribute to mitigating the consequences of the coal phase-out, particularly by creating new jobs. The objectives of the call focus on increasing the added value per employee, reducing the economy’s dependence on fossil fuels, encouraging foreign and domestic investment, and diversifying the economy in individual coal-mining regions. The funds allocated are intended to stimulate the creation of 178 new jobs in the SAŠA region alone and to support a total of at least 35 companies in both regions.
The public call for so-called productive investments, which is the third call after the calls for promoting business incubators in the Zasavje and SAŠA regions, partially financed by the European Union with funds from the Just Transition Fund, is being implemented as part of the European Cohesion Policy Programme for the period 2021-2027 in Slovenia, and operations must be carried out in accordance with the “Do No Significant Harm” (DNSH) principle.
Potential beneficiaries are companies that carry out economic activities and will invest in tangible and intangible assets to establish new business units, expand their capacity, make significant changes to their production process, or diversify into new products, thereby creating new jobs and demonstrating growth in added value. The co-financing intensity is defined in accordance with the regional state aid scheme, which is 50% for micro and small enterprises, 40% for medium-sized enterprises, and 30% for large enterprises of eligible costs, whereby the co-financing intensity may be increased by up to 10 percentage points for all enterprises based on the fulfillment of sub-criteria.
In the SAŠA region, an estimated EUR 12.75 million will be available for operations of large enterprises, and EUR 29.75 million for operations of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, for a total of EUR 42.5 million. Operations under this call will have to be completed by the end of June 2027 at the latest, which is one year later than envisaged prior to the publication of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP platform), which enabled the pre-financing of 30% of the Just Transition Fund to the national budget and, consequently, the achievement of the n+3 principle in the implementation of the EKP 2021-2027 Programme, as well as the achievement of the financial milestone for the JTF for 2026.
The public call for co-financing projects for the construction of economic and business infrastructure in the Savinjska-Šaleška coal mining region under the Fair Transition Fund for the period 2024-2027 was also published today by the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development.
The purpose of the public call is to support projects for the functional development or revitalisation of economic and business infrastructure (business zones) in reclaimed areas associated with coal mining and coal use in the Savinjska-Šaleška coal mining region. The development of economic and business infrastructure is one of the prerequisites for the growth and development of companies, which will contribute to the development of entrepreneurship, employment, and restructuring of this coal mining region, as well as to the transition to a low-carbon circular economy. Potential beneficiaries are municipalities in the narrower coal mining area (Velenje, Šoštanj, and Šmartno ob Paki), which will develop transport, energy, municipal, and telecommunications infrastructure in business zones and, to a certain extent, will also be able to use the funds to provide flood protection measures necessary for the establishment of the business zones.
The amount of non-repayable funds available for co-financing projects under this public call is EUR 10,635,294.12, and the co-financing intensity of eligible costs may reach up to 100%. The deadline for completing business zone construction projects is the end of September 2027 at the latest.
The Savinjska-Šaleška Region Development Agency provides support within the framework of the SAŠA Centre for Just Transition in the region in the preparation and implementation of projects, the establishment of local partnerships, provides training to strengthen the capacity of project sponsors, informs about the just transition process, and monitors the development of the SAŠA coal mining region. The SAŠA Just Transition pursues the strategic goals of a just energy transition, employment and skills for all, sustainable, flexible, and diverse economic development, and the gradual remediation and revitalisation of spatially and environmentally degraded areas. To ensure the development of the SAŠA region in the next programming period, the development agency is participating in a project group to prepare the content guidelines for the National Regional Development Strategy and the guidelines for the preparation of regional plans for the period 2028-2034.
The activities of the Centre for Just Transition are fully funded by technical assistance from the Just Transition Fund.