This year, the WEBG will again support the projects of social initiatives in Bavaniste, the village which has been included into this program since last year. Some of the supported projects can be a good choice for the current year as well, which was suggested at the presentation of project propositions and the competition procedures. It was also pointed out that the project proposals should contain a component contributing to the general interest i.e. it should be of interest and for benefit of the whole local community.

The 2016 Program for Support of the Social Initiatives for Bavaniste is worth € 3,000.00. As decided when supporting other local communities, this amount was allocated to Bavaniste in proportion to the impact which the wind farm construction will have on this village. The project competition procedure remains the same as it was in 2015, and the total donation in 2016 is also the same i.e. € 24,000.00.

 If we judge from the results of projects which were completed in Bavaniste last year, it can be expected that similar success will be repeated this year as well. At the presentation, some good examples of infrastructural projects were pointed out like refurbishing the children’s playground, installation of the spotlights on the volleyball court and fixing a handrail in the Local Community so as to help elders to move. In view of the good effects of these projects, it was suggested to the representatives of civil associations and others would like to participate in the Program that a desirable focus of their projects should be on improving infrastructure.

The projects can focus on the children care, on sport and cultural programs, preservation of tradition and similar, but all projects should include that component of the general interest and shouldn’t be profit-making. The projects cannot be based on a 100 percent support by the WEBG i.e. they should include an additional source of funding.

 At the final part of presentation dedicated to the new Program for Support to the Social Initiatives, the gathered residents were informed about the procedure which consists of a short project description with all necessary data and presented on the universal form which they had to deliver to the Local Community. When all propositions arrive, a commission will make a selection and after that the company owners will bring the final decision.

In the part of presentation open for questions and discussions, the residents of Bavaniste were interested to know whether the Local Communities could also compete for donations. The answer was positive with an additional remark i.e. that Local Communities according to the Law have no permission to handle money, so donation would be either transferred on the township’s account or costs would be paid directly by the WEBG on the basis of presented preliminary estimate.

One of the questions dealt with the project duration. According to the proposition, the Program foresees the termination of project activities until the end of the current year. It is therefore expected that all reports will have been submitted by the end of 2016, together with the copies of cost accounts as being defined by the project. In the case of larger projects that require several years to be completed, the WEBG is ready to finance a phase of such a project which can be completed within the current year. One of such examples is paving streets with asphalt, when the WEBG covered the costs of the project documentation for this big enterprise.   

The answer to question when to expect payments for accepted projects, the residents were informed that it would start at least from mid-April to the end of year. For all other questions or dilemmas in connection with the project competition, the representatives of the civil associations and other interested residents can contact directly the WEBG representatives.