The 6th regular session of the Development Council of the Koroške region took place

The Director of the Regional Development Agency for Koroško, Uroš Rozman , first presented the current status of the projects of the Agreement for the Development of the Koroške Region and the Program "under Article 99" of the ZORZFS. The region has identified 19 projects in the Agreement for the Development of the Regions for a total of 21.4 million euros, which is available to us. The wish is that by the end of 2025, most beneficiaries will have prepared applications for direct approval of projects, which would receive a positive opinion from the competent ministries in the following year and consequently financing contracts. In doing so, the beneficiaries have some challenges (land, building permits, eligible costs), but we believe that they will be successful.

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has prepared a draft Programme under Article 99 of the ZORZFS, which, if adopted, would provide 159 million euros in development funds to the 30 most affected municipalities (9 Koroške regions) in 2023. The Programme would support both state and municipal investments in the areas of healthcare, social services, education, and economic and tourism infrastructure.

Next, the rapporteur Jošt Šmajdek from the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy, Directorate for Transport Policy, gave a presentation on On-Demand Transport and its integration into public passenger transport. Transport poverty is a phenomenon when an individual or household does not have adequate transport to key services and activities or finds it difficult to afford it. Three key measures were presented to alleviate transport poverty: 1. With combined e-vehicles intended for on-demand transport between collection points; 2. Subsidy for the purchase of vehicles for the mobility poor and 3. Vouchers for sustainable mobility and energy efficiency. The funds should be available at the beginning of 2026.

Leon Kobetič from LOCUS spatial information solutions doo presented the preparation of the Regional Spatial Plan (RPP) for the Koroško development region. He emphasized that it is a strategic and regional document that will outline the key directions of the region's spatial development in the coming years. Among the main challenges facing the region, he highlighted demographic decline, a decrease in the working population, a shortage of building land and the need to restructure economic zones. These factors require thoughtful planning and coordinated measures that will enable balanced development and efficient use of space. The Spatial Planning Act stipulates that the RPP must be completed by the end of 2027. The first draft of the document will be prepared and discussed at the beginning of next year, but, as Kobetič emphasized, it is not a draft in the sense of municipal spatial plans (OPN).