This year, the government spent more than HUF 250 billion to improve the quality of life of people living in the countryside, said the government commissioner responsible for the development of modern settlements in Budapest on Monday.

Alpár Gyopáros recalled at the press conference evaluating this year's program: one third of the Hungarian population, nearly 3.2 million people, live in settlements with fewer than five thousand people. Since, according to experience, the quality of life of people living in villages is inferior to that of people living in larger settlements, the government launched a complex program in 2019 to improve the quality of life of people living in the countryside.

He added: the goal is to stop the drastic population decline of the villages by improving the quality of life. As he said, this was achieved in a significant part of the settlements, of the 250 settlements with a declining population, the number of inhabitants increased in more than a thousand last year.

As he said, 15 calls for tenders were published in the Hungarian village program this year, through which village governments, civil organizations and parishes were helped with more than HUF 80 billion.

He said: this year, 860 village streets will be developed within the framework of the program, in 400 settlements they will be able to acquire communal equipment for road maintenance, 350 playgrounds will be built or renovated, village or village maintenance buses will be acquired in 200 settlements, and in hundreds of settlements village houses, kindergartens, service apartments they can renovate and design. He noted that since the start of the program in 2019, 20,000 winners have been announced, and they have been provided with approximately HUF 200 billion in support over the past three years.

He also said that this year the number of settlements where village chocolate can be used has increased by two hundred, the popularity of the program is unbroken, since its launch in 2019, financial institutions have accepted nearly 25,000 applications, i.e. that is how many families have been able to start expanding their homes, for renovation.

Alpár Gyopáros highlighted: an important element of the Hungarian village program is the village road base, which serves to renew the state side road network. By the end of this year, 3,000 kilometers of road development will begin or be completed, and another 1,500 kilometers of side roads are planned to be renovated next year.

The government commissioner also spoke about the fact that market players are already being supported in the program this year, and village micro and small businesses could claim HUF 2-10 million for site development, equipment acquisition, and financing of operating costs. The total amount of the tender was HUF 25 billion, and the government commissioner indicated that the program is expected to expand further at the beginning of next year.

He also said that they can support the opening of more than a hundred new village shops and the development of thousands of shops, a decision on this is expected in autumn.

Speaking about the Village Civil Fund tenders, he said that after last year's success, they announced it this year as well, and they were able to announce more than 1,500 winners, and five billion forints were distributed among the applicants.

Alpár Gyopáros indicated: they assessed which are the state-owned properties with which the manager of the property has no long-term goal of handing them over to the municipalities of small settlements. As he said, their proposal in this regard will soon be submitted to the government, following the decision of the National Assembly, at the beginning of next year, more than 600 settlements will be able to take over 1,500 properties from the state for utilization.

He also said that the government supports settlements with less than 5,000 inhabitants with one million forints each in the organization of their events and village days. In addition, together with MÁV Zrt., a program with a budget of two billion forints was launched for the renovation of railway stations in small towns. In the program, existing station buildings are being renovated or new ones are being built in almost 30 settlements, and in 230 settlements, other investments are being made to help make travel more comfortable.

Alpár Gyopáros indicated that the funds needed to continue the program are provided in next year's budget. He pointed out that HUF 600 billion have been spent on the Hungarian Village program since the start of the program, the source is increasing every year, 150 billion in 2019, 200 billion last year, 250 billion this year, and they intend to even more next year.

MTI

Photo: MTI/Lajos Soós