State Secretary for European Integration at the MFAEI Marija Pejčinović-Burić, acting as the national ISPA co-ordinator, and Vincent Degert, Head of the European Commission’s Delegation to Croatia, signed on Monday, 30 January 2006, Memorandums on financing the ISPA projects Water and Waste Water Project in Karlovac and the Rehabilitation of Vinkovci-Tovarnik-state border railway
Since the preparation and implementation of these projects requires an interdepartmental co-ordination, the signing ceremony saw numerous officials, including Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Petar Čobanković, Minister of Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development Božidar Kalmeta, Finance Minister Ivan Šuker, vukovarsko-srijemska county head Božo Galić, and karlovačka county head Ivica Horvat. In her speech, Minister Grabar-Kitarović pointed out the importance of these investments as leverage for the economic development and the fact that these are outright grants. She also stressed that the successful opening of these grants is a proof of Croatia’s good administrative capability and a guarantee of high absorption of the current and future EU grants.
The memorandums on financing these two projects are the first opened grants of the overall €245 mil. Of outright grants the European Commission has allocated for Croatia for the 2005-2006 period. These Memorandums assign more that €51 mil. of the overall €60 mil. allocated for the ISPA program for the 2005-2006 period. Apart from the said ISPA grants, Croatia is obliged to co-finance the projects with at least 25% of the overall expenses. The total value of the Rehabilitation of Vinkovci-Tovarnik-state border railway project exceeds €75 mil., with some €28 mil. of the EU’s contribution, while the overall value of the Water and Waste Water Project in Karlovac equals €36 mil., with the EU contributing €22,5 mil. from the ISPA funds.
The ISPA is a pre-accession assistance program designed for the investments in the environment and transport infrastructure which, along with the PHARE and SAPARD programs, Croatia is eligible to use as an EU candidate based on the pre-accession strategy for Croatia published by the European Commission on 6 October 2004.
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