January 16 (SeeNews) - The EU Delegation to Bosnia said it has started contracting projects within the 71 million euro ($79.2 million) Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) 2018 Programme, signed by the country's authorities in December.
Most of the IPA 2018 funds will be allocated to agriculture, energy efficiency and the judiciary, Bosnia's EU Delegation said in a statement on Wednesday.
In 2019, the EU agreed to projects worth almost 81 million euro in the country, disbursing more than 64 million euro. It expects Bosnia's financial performance to improve in 2020, both in terms of contracting new activities and payments for ongoing projects.
In November, the EU approved the IPA 2019 and 2020 packages to Bosnia, totalling some 170 million euro. The funds are to be used for reforms in the public administration, public finance management, justice and transitional justice, home affairs, support to parliaments in the EU accession process. They will also target improvements in energy, transport, environment, trade and education, employment and social policies.
Bosnia is using funds implemented from IPA 2013 to IPA 2017 currently, which exceed 350 million euro, the statement said.
The country is the biggest beneficiary of the Regional IPA for transport in the Western Balkans, as some 215 million euro of grant co-financing are used for acceleration of the Corridor Vc construction.
European transport Corridor Vc has a total length of 700 km and connects the Adriatic port of Ploce in Croatia with Budapest in Hungary via Bosnia. Its length in Bosnia is some 340 km.
Bosnia is a country of some 4 million people.
($ = 0.8963 euro)