Deputy Prime Minister and minister of physical planning, construction and state property Branko Bačić, Varaždin County prefect Anđelko Stričak, and director of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund Luka Balen, were present today at the Varaždin County Palace where representatives of local self-government units and institutions from the area of Varaždin County were awarded decisions and contracts for financing worth in total EUR 3.6 million. These are projects for the energy renovation of public sector buildings, the development of new generation spatial plans, and green urban renewal strategies.
EUR 2.38 million has been provided for the preparation of project documentation and energy renovation of public sector buildings in cooperation with the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund. The director of the Fund, Luka Balen, highlighted that the funds for 5 energy renovation projects were allocated as part of the call with a total value of more than 100 million euros. "This is just one in a series of programmes that we’re implementing, including the one for the energy renovation of houses for citizens. Through the largest package of measures so far, the Government has provided 120 million euros for the renovation of family houses, for which we’ve received 12 thousand applications. Applications are constantly being processed and contracts are already being sent to our citizens’ addresses," said Balen, praising good cooperation with Varaždin County. "In this area, almost 60 million euros of European and national funding have been provided in recent years for the energy renovation of both public and private residential buildings, and houses," said the director of the Fund.
The cities of Ivanec and Varaždin have been awarded contracts for the development of green urban renewal strategies worth 60 thousand euros, and funds have also been allocated for new generation spatial plans, which will be more transparent and accessible to the public and potential investors. The funds for this programme are financed from the NRRP and, so far, the financing of 484 project proposals worth EUR 11.2 million has been approved.
"The majority of projects - 50 of them - were approved in Varaždin County, with the total grant funding amounting to 1.1 million euros. Our goal is to transfer all spatial plans in Croatia from analogue to digital forms, which is fully financed by the state", said Deputy Prime Minister and minister Branko Bačić. County prefect Stričak expressed his appreciation of the contracts, stressing the 3.6 million granted for projects in Varaždin County and concluding: "I am convinced that our mayors, heads of municipalities and representatives of institutions operating in our area will know how to use the granted funds well."