The European Commission has confirmed that Croatia will soon receive a new tranche of financial support from the NextGenerationEU fund in the amount of 835.6 million euros.

This is Croatia's sixth payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the EU's key instrument for supporting member states in overcoming the consequences of the pandemic and encouraging sustainable growth, writes Poslovni dnevnik.

The Commission's preliminary analysis showed that Croatia has fulfilled 15 milestones and 11 defined targets from the Council Implementing Decision, which is a prerequisite for the approval of these funds. These funds are intended to encourage reforms and investments in the areas of healthcare, strengthening the fight against corruption, the development of renewable energy sources such as hydrogen, water management systems, resilience to natural disasters, and the energy connectivity of islands and overall security of energy supply.

In addition, the investments include the digitalization of the healthcare system, where capacities for patient care will be improved and state-of-the-art surgical equipment will be procured. Reforms are also being implemented in the management of state-owned enterprises through the adoption of new legislation and the strengthening of the internal control system, including the establishment of professional and independent supervisory boards.

Following the European Commission's positive assessment, the EU's Economic and Financial Committee has four weeks to issue its final opinion, on the basis of which the funds will be disbursed to Croatia. Croatia's overall recovery and resilience plan covers a wide range of reforms and investments, with total funding of 10 billion euros, divided into 5.8 billion euros in grants and 4.2 billion euros in loans.

This package of funds and reforms is of great importance for Croatia's future economic development, especially in the context of strengthening the public services system and the green transition, which are at the center of European Union policies.