The Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government (MDULS) and the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) have held a formal meeting today in Vrnjačka Banja on the occasion of awarding of the Annual Awards for the best municipal/city administrations in the application of the principles of good governance in 2022. Awards were given in four categories of good governance, while the best local self-governments are Kragujevac, Vranje, Sokobanja and Vrnjačka Banja.
Congratulating the winners, the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Aleksandar Martinović, PhD, has pointed out that the award fund this year amounted to RSD 10 million, and that 30 applications were received at the address of the Ministry as part of the Public Call for Annual Awards. He added that the goal of today’s event is to highlight exceptional examples of good practice at the local level, and to inspire the entire further development of the local self-government system in Serbia.
“We announce the best municipalities and cities and award them primarily with the aim of encouraging all our Local Self-Government Units to make additional efforts in order to improve the quality of life of the local populace. I am convinced that Kragujevac, Vrnjačka Banja, Vranje and Sokobanja will not stop at receiving this recognition, and that, in the future, they will be even readier to carry out the most important tasks, primarily in the provision of services, because continuous transparent, responsible and effective management is key to preserving the citizens’ trust,” Martinović has emphasized.
Nikola Tarbuk, Secretary General of SCTM, has stressed that the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and other partners, has been supporting its members for years in efforts to harmonize the legal framework, procedures and their practice with the principles of good governance.
“This formal meeting is the result of numerous initiatives in the field of good governance, and today we have gathered to present and promote good examples from all over Serbia – and thus confirm that the adoption and application of the principles of good governance leads to concrete positive changes, that the efforts made by municipalities and cities are recognized and that, most importantly, they create better conditions for the life of the local community,” Tarbuk has said.
MDULS has awarded the winners of the competition with funds from the Support Programme for the Development and Functioning of the Local Self-Government System in the total amount of RSD 10 million. The winners in each of the four categories received a financial award in the amount of RSD 2.5 million.
In addition to the funds from the Ministry’s fund, and with the aim of additional support for the development and application of the principles of good governance in the work of local self-governments, SCTM donates equipment to the winners of the competition based on the established purpose for spending the funds according to the proposals of the awarded cities and municipalities. The total award fund of SCTM amounts to RSD 4.5 million, which will be distributed in equal amounts of RSD 1,125,000 to the four winners of the competition, with the support of the “Partnership for Good Local Self-Government” Programme.
Photo gallery – author: MDULS
