The largest operational program for the years 2014-2020 has just ended: over 12,000 projects received a total of CZK 151.3 billion

Prague, April 25, 2024 (PROTEXT) – The Center for Regional Development approved the last 631 requests for payment in the total amount of CZK 18 billion under the Integrated Regional Operational Program 2014-2020 (IROP). This ended his administration. The program was extended by several years by the European Union’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, the IROP continues for the years 2021-2027, when it will distribute around CZK 120 billion.

3038 days passed between the first and last administered IROP 2014-2020 project. During that time, the way the Center works has changed significantly. While at the beginning it was necessary to send paper letters with signatures and stamps to the Ministry for Regional Development, later it was switched to an electronic form of communication.

“In the years 2014-2020, IROP was the largest European operational program in the Czech Republic, which was further increased by another 28 billion crowns directed to the health and social sector. This is how the European Union responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, IROP is the second largest program,” says the director of the IROP Section of the Center for Regional Development, Helena Miškovičová.

7th IROP 2014-2020

• The largest recipients of subsidies were regions and municipalities, which received CZK 101 billion for their projects.
• Most of the money, almost CZK 50 billion, went to hospitals and social care facilities.
• The biggest savings were obtained by applicants who insulated their property thanks to CZK 7.7 billion from the IROP.
• Ambulances and firefighters will arrive faster thanks to subsidies from IROP in the total amount of CZK 4.5 billion.
• IROP money secured the most new places in kindergartens – there are 10,000 more for children.
• Our cultural heritage received the biggest repairs – 462 monuments were reconstructed.
• The largest individual project was the construction of the Pilsen bypass with a subsidy of CZK 1.5 billion.

Although the IROP 2024-2020 has ended and for most beneficiaries the implementation of their projects has also ended, they are obliged to keep the projects in accordance with the project documentation and fully functional for at least five years. The Center’s officials will now focus more on sustainability checks. In total, there are 12,500 projects that the Center will control until at least 2029. “It’s nothing formal. We face ten thousand sustainability checks a year,” points out Helena Miškovičová.

In addition, the Center will also deal with at least 78 projects included in the so-called unfinished or non-functioning regime. These are beneficiaries who, under the influence of various circumstances, did not have time to complete their projects and requested an extension of their implementation. Therefore, the Center deals with them individually.

Unfinished projects have the option to split activities into multiple parts to meet the project goal. Stages completed by the end of 2023 will be reimbursed by IROP I. Unfinished parts can be implemented under IROP II if the recipient is demonstrably not at fault for the delay and the program still supports the same area. The second option is reimbursement of eligible expenses incurred until the end of 2023 and subsequent additional financing from the recipient’s own resources.

“The advantage of both variants is that the recipient will receive a subsidy, even if perhaps not in full. Under the current conditions, i.e. outside this regime, he would have to return the entire subsidy. The measure should mitigate the consequences of the crises of recent years, which could have unexpectedly complicated projects,” adds Kateřina Dohnalová, director of the Management Department of the Center for Regional Development.

Samples of implemented projects are available on the website Regionynasbavi.cz. All supported projects are then on the website of the Integrated Regional Operational Program: irop.gov.cz.

About the Center for Regional Development of the Czech Republic:

The Center for Regional Development of the Czech Republic (www.crr.cz) is a state-funded organization managed by the Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic. Since 1996, its main activity has been the administration and control of the use of European funds. He is now in charge of the administration of the Integrated Regional Operational Program (IROP) and European Territorial Cooperation programmes. The center is also the host organization of the Enterprise Europe Network, a pan-European consulting network for small and medium-sized enterprises. Long-term experience in implementing projects supported by the EU, its own management and organizational systems and certification according to the international standard ISO 9001:2016 enable the Center to quickly and efficiently meet the requirements of individual programs and clients, while at the same time maintaining a high level of work quality.