According to plans, the Government will publish 133 calls for proposals for funds worth some HUF 2,700 billion in total, the State Secretary for EU Developments of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Wednesday in Nagykanizsa.

Eszter Vitályos said at the press conference held after the conference organised by the Nagykanizsa Chamber of Commerce and Industry that seven of the ten Hungarian operational programmes presented to the European Commission had already been approved by the Commission, and the other three are expected to be approved in the summer; calls for proposals are therefore ready to be launched.

The State Secretary highlighted: after an allocation of EUR 24.9 billion provided during the development cycle extending to 2013, Hungary may avail itself of cohesion grants worth EUR 34 billion during the period between 2014 and 2020. Hungary has to date drawn 87 per cent of the funds made available during the previous financial period, and it is in second position with this absorption rate from among the ten EU Member States which joined in 2004, but it is to be expected that Hungary will succeed in withdrawing one hundred per cent of the total allocation.

During the previous seven-year cycle, HUF 660,000 of EU funds fell on every Hungarian citizen; this will increase to HUF 712,000 in the next seven years. Utilisation of the funds available for calls will be geared towards the development of the economy and job creation; more than 60 per cent of the available grants will be dedicated directly to these two goals, and the Government looks upon small and medium-sized enterprises as its principal partners in this effort, Eszter Vitályos reiterated.

The State Secretary also told the press that, as expected, the Government will approve the integrated settlement development programmes of counties and county-ranked cities on Wednesday. There were some that had to be sent back for revision, but among others, the programme of Nagykanizsa had a very solid professional content, the State Secretary said.

(Prime Minister's Office/MTI)