The bulletin looks at the most important people, numbers and events relating to the Covenant of Mayors – a major EU deal with 7,204 signatories as of January 2017 that has brought together different cities to combat climate change. The headline article offers general information about the Covenant, its goals, objectives as well as our partners and financial arrangements.
The "Covenant of Mayors and its Implementation in Belarus" review takes a careful look at the history of the project and its most active participants. It also features a geographical map of the project activities in Belarus.
In interviews with Eurobulletin, Mikalay Shauchuk, head of the Polack District Executive Committee, Anatol Markevich, head of the Navahrudak District Executive Committee, Uladzimir Draneuski, head of the Braslaŭ District Executive Committee, and Alyaksandr Rahachuk, head of the Brest City Executive Committee, share their thoughts about the results of the project. Uladzimir Draneuski, in particular, says that a grant contract for a project called "Braslaŭ district—first climate-neutral municipality in Belarus" was signed with the European Union on 11 March, 2016. The budget of the project totaled 735,000 euros, with more than 580,000 euros coming from the EU.
The bulletin also looks at the project from the perspective of experts. Ivan Shchadranok, a national expert on Belarus of the "Covenant of Mayors—East 2," project believes that the Covenant of Mayors opens up opportunities for attracting investment for energy-saving projects for Belarusian cities. Yuliya Yablonskaya, chairperson of an international civil society organization called Ecopartnership, talks about efforts to promote the Covenant of Mayors in Belarus and the assistance that the authorities of the signatory cities receive from her organization.
The special edition concludes with a summary of the news followed by an announcement about a journalistic contest timed to coincide with the launch of euprojects.by, which contains information about more than 40 projects that are being carried out in Belarus with the financial assistance of the EU.
