07.07.2021.
The representatives of the Fund visited Križevci today. The director of the Fund, Siniša Kukić, expressed his satisfaction with the working meeting that was held and praised excellent cooperation with the town. “There are many projects the Fund and Križevci implemented in cooperation, mainly waste management projects, and I’d like to use this occasion to hand over to the mayor the decision on co-financing the purchase of compactors, which are necessary on landfill Ivančino brdo”, said Director Kukić.In the meeting ides and experiences were shared about the programmes implemented by Križevci, which could easily be a model for other units of local self-government. The town’s development strategy successfully implemented environmental policies with the aim of Križevci becoming energy independent and green city. One of the mechanisms that will assist in this process are programmes prepared by the Fund that were presented today by heads of the Environmental Protection Sector and Energy Efficiency Sector, Aleksandra Čilić and Maja Rajčić respectively. Following up on their presentation, head of the Fund’s Intermediate Body level 2, Helena Iveković, said that since Križevci was actively developing the programmes dealing with digitalisation, smart city solutions and the possibility of using green hydrogen, in the new 7-year programming period there would certainly be options for co-financing from EU funds.
“In this year alone, the Fund is planning 22 public calls for co-financing projects for the units of local self-government, companies, and citizens, amounting to a total of 925 million kunas,”said director Kukić, pointing out that the Fund was open for new ideas proposed by the people with first-hand experience.
One of the topics discussed in the meeting was the project of establishing and construction of the Sustainable Development National Education Centre presented by Dijana Mijač Dretar. As was pointed out by the mayor Mario Rajn, the town was putting in a lot of effort in educating the citizens because the town administration is aware that without this, the set goals would not be achieved. This project is an upgrade on continuous education, and along with waste management it will deal with the topic of climate change, the importance of biodiversity and renewable energy sources. “We talked about the previous that was very successful, and discussed the topics related to the development of Križevci that are in compliance with the goals of the Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia and with those of the European Commission,” said Rajn.
Martin Kozjak, director of the utility company Komunalno poduzeće Križevci, said that the cooperation between the Town, the utility company and the Fund was truly successful, not only in terms of financial assistance but also expert support and advice that was always readily available from the Fund’s professional departments.
County mayor Darko Koren said he was pleased with participation in the working meeting and the topics discussed regarding Križevci and the utility company. “The Fund is included in the project of construction of the Regional Waste Management Centre Piškornica, and since there are other projects as well, there was much to talk about. Today we learned about all the Fund’s programmes that will be launched, and we need this useful information at the local level,” said Koren.
In her reply to a journalist’s question regarding waste management in Križevci, head of the Environmental Protection Sector Aleksandra Čilić said that Križevci were like straight A’s students. “Kirževci is at the top, right up there with the 10 towns that have established their system and conduct continuous education with very good results,” said Čilić.
The working meeting continued with a visit to the sorting plant, civic amenity site, and landfill “Ivančino brdo”.
