Croatia plans to invest 10 bln kuna (1.3 bln euro) in railways in 2012-2016

The plan envisages the use of 2.5 billion kuna of own funds and 7.5 billion kuna of EU structural funds, the ministry said in an email on Monday, responding to SeeNews questions adding that EU will make the final decision on granting the funds.

HZ Infrastruktura aims to raise the quality of railway services in Croatia.

The Croatian railway infrastructure needs to be upgraded and modernised, Paul Vandoren, head of the EC delegation to Croatia, said in October on a visit to a railway upgrade project. The EU has allocated 150 million euro ($199 million) under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) and the Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) for the Croatian sections of EU corridors V and X, Vandoren added.

Croatia will join the EU on July 1, 2013.

Corridor V links the Croatian Adriatic coast with Budapest via Osijek and Sarajevo while Corridor X links western Europe with Greece over land and stretches 2,360 kilometres across eight countries.

(1 euro=7.5588 Croatian kuna)