Southwest Saxony: Here's How the Special Fund Is to Be Allocated

Funds from the special fund for the “Southwest Saxony Master Plan” are to be allocated to selected projects. The details for the selection process have now been finalized. The government established the funding procedure during its cabinet meeting, as Regina Kraushaar (CDU), Minister of State for Infrastructure and Regional Development, announced in Dresden.

Accordingly, funding will be provided on a case-by-case basis. Thus, funding allocations will not be determined on a blanket basis but will be decided on a project-by-project basis. This approach is intended to maintain flexibility in the approval and management of funding. The region itself will conduct the preliminary selection, and the final list will then be coordinated with the government.

100 Million Euros for Structural Change

By 2036, a total of 4.83 billion euros will flow from the federal government’s “Infrastructure and Climate Neutrality” special fund to the Free State. Of this amount, 100 million is reserved for the “Southwest Saxony Master Plan.” The funding is intended to support far-reaching structural change in the districts of Zwickau, Central Saxony, the Erzgebirge District, the Vogtland District, and the city of Chemnitz. 

According to Kraushaar, 126 projects have already been submitted. The region is to develop a shortlist by mid-December. Discussions with the state government will then focus, among other things, on whether the projects are eligible for funding, meet the necessary criteria, and can be financed through existing funding programs.

Supraregional impact and value creation are key criteria in the selection process, Kraushaar said. The projects will ultimately receive funding approval from the Saxon State Directorate.

Funding for Investment Projects

The money is to go exclusively to projects that cannot receive funding from existing sources, as Kraushaar emphasized. It is available for investment projects in various sectors—ranging from transportation to healthcare and education to civil protection.

According to the ministry, the specific design of a project is decisive. In accordance with federal law, eligible for funding are capital investments as well as necessary measures directly associated with them. Operating costs and purely maintenance-related measures cannot be funded. Stand-alone concepts or studies are only eligible if they have a concrete connection to an eligible investment.