March 3 (SeeNews) - The Japanese government has donated 165,700 euro ($176,100) to Serbia for infrastructure projects in the municipalities of Bojnik, Gadzin Han and Trgoviste under the donation programme for basic population needs (POPOS), the Serbian infrastructure ministry said.
Vitko and Sveta elementary school from Gadzin Han will use funds from the donation to provide students with new dining room furniture and kitchen appliances at a cost of 58,200 euro, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Bojnik municipality will use the funds from this donation to purchase an excavator for road maintenance, while Trgoviste municipality will use the funds obtained for the purchase of garbage containers.
"In the last 20 years, Japan has allocated around 500 million euro for various beneficiaries in our country. About 15 million euro were donated through the POPOS program, covering 247 projects," said Dragan Stevanovic, state secretary at the infrastructure ministry.
POPOS grants are designed to meet the basic and urgent needs of the population. The projects are envisaged as a one-off, non-refundable assistance to local communities in areas such as healthcare, education, environmental protection and social protection.
$ = 0.9408 euro