September 28 (SeeNews) - Croatia's government said on Tuesday that the European Commission has allocated 818.4 million euro ($956 million) in advance payment out of its 6.3 billion euro aid package in support of the country's Covid recovery plan.
“This is the biggest single payment of EU funds into the Croatian budget since Croatia is a member of the European Union,” the government said in a statement.
The European Commission approved the plan at the beginning of July.
“Following a phase of keeping jobs and the economic stability amid the circumstances of the Covid-19 crisis, now we are focused on reform process and the use of the provided EU funding for a fast economic recovery and development, with a clear direction for a double transition, both digital and green,” prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said in the statement.
Some of the projects that will be funded with the grant are for research and development of driverless passenger vehicles, investments in broadband access infrastructure and providing access to 5G network, energy efficiency projects, projects encouraging the use of renewable energy, and projects for decarbonisation of buildings.
Croatia's recovery and resilience plan aims to help national economy grow by 1.5% in 2021, by 2.5% in each of the next four years, and by 2.9% in 2026, according to estimates by the Commission. The overall value of the plan equals 11.6% of Croatia's GDP for 2019.
($=0.855 euro)