EU funding boosts rural employment
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
16.07.2012 18:31
Grants from the EU since 2007 have helped create approximately 34,000 jobs in the Polish countryside, according to newly released statistics.
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Poland's government-backed Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARiMR) has highlighted figures connected with grants from the so-called Rural Development Programme for 2007-2013.
Parts of this programme are aimed at “diversification into non-agricultural activities” and “the establishment and development of micro-enterprises.”
Jobs from the former category have been created in such diverse spheres as furniture workshops, hairdressing salons, shops, restaurants, IT, kindergartens and garages, among others.
Meanwhile, the “development of micro-enterprises” category is typically more closely tied to farming itself, with businesses including jam-producing plants.
Since 2007, the Agency has overseen three calls for grant applications - in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and is at liberty to provide 50 percent of the costs of setting up a business, but this subsidy cannot exceed 100,000 zloty (about 23,860 euros).
To date, the Agency has signed about 12,000 contracts, backing investments to the tune of 1 billion zloty (238.6 million euros). (nh)