April 15 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Monday it has disbursed the fourth payment of 162.5 million euro ($173 million) in grants to Croatia under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), a plan designed to help the EU member states recover from the coronavirus pandemic and invest in green energy and digitalisation.
Payments under the RRF depend on the implementation of the investments and reforms described in Croatia's recovery and resilience plan, the Commission said in a press release.
On December 21, 2023, Croatia submitted to the Commission its fourth payment request under the RRF, covering 9 milestones and 7 targets. These cover reforms in the areas of public administration, the judiciary, public procurement, early childhood education and care, as well as investments in the decarbonisation of the energy sector, electronic communications, research and innovation, and health.
On February 29, the Commission adopted a positive preliminary assessment of Croatia's request for payment. The favourable opinion of the Economic and Financial Committee of the Council (EFC) on the payment request paved the way for the Commission to adopt a final decision on the disbursement of the funds.
The overall recovery and resilience plan of Croatia will be financed by 5.8 billion euro in grants and 4.2 billion euro in loans.
($ = 0.938 euro)