As many as 717 projects of the 724 submitted were admitted to the European Village Contest whose objective is to develop communities, Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development, stated in a news conference.

The total value of the projects is 2.8 billion lei, but the sum earmarked in the state budget for the purpose is of only 670 million lei. After the final assessment of the projects, the Government will ask for support from the development partners. The mayor’s offices will not need to finance the projects, IPN reports.

The Ministry of Finance will allocate funds for implementing the winning projects. The implementation starts at the end of May, noted Andrei Spînu.

The National Regional and Local Development Fund is the main source for financing local and regional development programs. According to the conditions of the contest, the projects must have a budget of at most 10 million lei and their implementation period must be of maximum 12 months.