Partner cities

Before 1989, the City of Prievidza's twin-city relationships were tailored to the political system of the time. The twin cities were approved by Party and government bodies and derived from the twin-city relationships of the region and district. Until the above year, the City of Prievidza had a formal twinning with the city of Novomoskovsk in the USSR and Pásztó in the Hungarian People's Republic. After the political and social changes of that year, these relationships were ended.

Šumperk

A departure from this stage was the relationship with the city of Šumperk in the Czech Republic, where a mutual agreement had been signed and an informal relationship created over the years in a wide spectrum of life in both cities (education, culture, sports, City National Committee authorities, a museum, etc.). Unfortunately, these contacts were terminated after 1989 and only a sporadic exchange of information was being managed, beyond the auspices of the official city authorities. However, there was a revival of partnership relations in 2001 when the "Agreement on Mutual Cooperation between the Cities of Šumperk and Prievidza" was signed. The most significant partner relations with the City of Šumperk have especially appeared in the area if community administration and policy.

Ibbenbüren

In the autumn of 1988, at the initiative of the mayor of the city of Ibbenbüren in the Federal Republic of Germany, there was an agreement signed on partner relations with the City of Prievidza. The signed agreement put the City of Prievidza among ten cities in Slovakia that at the time were permitted to have international relations with cities in Western Europe. However, up until 1989 the cooperation was only oriented toward a liaison between official delegations in both cities. Full development of partner relations had to wait until after the Velvet Revolution, when they could be applied in full to the democratic European and worldwide principles of cooperation and partnership.
Relations with the City of Ibbenbüren have become intensive over the years they have existed and have expanded into the area of culture, education, tourist development and implementation of the "Leonardo da Vinci" European program". The official framework has outgrown the informal relationships between residents of the cities and is now more known as a mixed marriage. The existing degree of mutual relationships has also created quite a good perspective for further development, feeding into projects and EU programs and opportunities for further cooperation, especially in the economic sphere. The disadvantage is the relatively great distance involved - more than 1,300 km and the continued existence of a language barrier between the middle-aged and older generations.

Luserna San Giovanni

Contacts in sport between TJ Stavbár Prievidza (volleyball) and the S3S sport club in the little town of Luserna San Giovanni (Italy), whose young athletes visited Prievidza for the first time in 1992, led in 1996 to an official partner relationship between both cities. Luserna San Giovani lies 52 km southwest of the city of Turín at the foot of the Alps near the border with France and has roughly 7,000 inhabitants. It is a center for the PIEMONT region, which is especially known for quarrying and stonecutting. Each year there is an exchange of sports delegations, which includes representatives from each partner city's administrations.

Valjevo - Srbsko

Initial contacts between the cities of Valjevo and Prievidza were initiated at the end of 2005 by the ambassador to what was then Serbia and Montenegro. In 2006, there was an exchange of visits by the heads of the two cities and after consultations and an evaluation was made by both sides, the will was expressed to conclude a written agreement on cooperation. The agreement was signed in a ceremony on 18 May 2007 in our city.
The City of Valjevo lies in the central part of Serbia, one hundred kilometers southwest of Belgrade in the Kolubara Valley. It has more than 60,000 inhabitants and is among the developing cities in the country. The first written mention of its existence was in 1393. The second half of the 20th century saw the greatest changes. It is the economic, administrative, cultural and educational center of the region.

Tasks of the City of Prievidza in the area of partner relations:

• centralize and manage an agenda of partner relations encompassing the City of Prievidza and individual areas of community administration, as well as other possible activities in the area of international cooperation;
• actively seek out opportunities for international cooperation within EU programs;
• by utilizing opportunities, seek out, encourage and methodologically assist in developing international cooperation, especially in the area of the third sector;
• seek out or utilize, after analysis, possible programs for cooperation to expand the agreed partnership, particularly in neighboring countries;
• prepare annual and long-term plans for partner cooperation at the city administration level
  (defined by interested areas of the city);
• create through regional cooperation the conditions for presenting the city and the region in cooperation with civil service authorities;
• orient partner cooperation toward whatever expands connections with residents, organizations and institutions in the city's territory

A special position within this international cooperation is held by the N. E. W. S. (North - East - West - South) project, which is supported and financed by the Netherlands government in 1992 - 2001 and focuses on trilateral cooperation between the cities of Nijmegen, Prievidza and Masaya, Nicaragua.
The basic hypothetical starting point "Think globally, act locally" is concentrated mainly on helping the Nicaraguan city of Masaya to mediate and converge with different cultures and encourage the opportunity for financial contacts. Holland's economic opportunities, the educational level of our experts and the needs of Masaya's residents flow into specific programs, in which the following activities will be implemented: 1.reconstruction of retiree clubs; 2.construction of a center to protect children;, 3.construction of a library; 4.construction of a sewer system; 5. urban planning and making a study of how the area can be used; 6. projections for the cadastral city of Masaya, 7. preventing cardiovascular diseases and cancer.