In 2003 Zakarpattya County Council together with Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg Regional Development Council (Hungary) initiated a TACIS CBC SPF project "Cooperation Bridge 2003".

The main objective of the project was to integrate the cross border regions of Ukraine and Hungary in geographical, social, economic and cultural sense, and to solve common development problems. The project was to assist local and regional authorities, NGOs and SME in certain cross-border projects implementation which aim to guarantee the sustainable development of border regions in accordance with the "Concept of Ukrainian and Hungarian cross-border regions development".

As a part of project implementation a Ukrainian-Hungarian Regional Development Centre has been established. The Centre was established as a mirror of Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg regional development agency.

The main tasks and objectives of the Centre are:

• to maintain and develop cross-border cooperation between Ukraine and Hungary;

• to take advantage of those positive tendencies and to solve the broblems which derive from Hungarian accession to European Union;

• to assist the corresponding organizations in cross-border cooperation maitenance and development;

• to initiate and elaborate common cross-border cooperation projects;

• to assist in establishment of an efficient information circulation system.

The Centre has already done a lot in this direction. Thus, the Centre elaborated and sent to European Commission two cross-border projects applications. The Centre also performed as the core partner in three cross-border projects applications submitted to European Commission by the Hungarian side.

Ukrainian-Hungarian Regional Development Centre:

Narodna sq., 4, apt. 238, 240
Uzhhorod, Ukraine 88000
Tel/fax: +38 (0312) 61-71-08, 80506890543
E-Mail: office@umti.org