Many places in Croatia have been making good use of EU funds, but others need time to catch up. The opportunities provided by accessing the funding has been showcased in one excellent Croatian example, Zaprešić.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 27th of December, 2018, last Friday, Zaprešić was the final host of the Regional EU Funds seminar for this year. The seminars aim to inform the public about the funding opportunities provided by EU funds by the Ministry of Regional Development and EU funds.
Zaprešić is just one example of good EU funds practice, and this is also backed up somewhat symbolically by the fact that the education seminar about the use of EU funds was held in the Vršilnica building, which was rebuilt with the very welcome help of 4,855,637.50 euro, co-financed by European structural and investment funds.
EU funds are one of the key sources of funding for urban investments and large capital projects across the Republic of Croatia, without which the City of Zaprešić simply could not have realised many projects. As explained by Mayor Zeljko Turk, in the period from 2017 until now, nearly 33 million kuna of contracted funds outside of the city budget have been spent, which have helped to deal with large capital projects, raise the overall quality of life, and accelerate the development cycle of Zaprešić in general. The fact that EU funds are a huge part of Croatia's present and future, was emphasised by the state secretary at the Ministry of Regional Development and EU funds, Velimir Žunac.
"We're the youngest member of the European Union, so we're learning, growing and maturing at the same time, and this government has made significant gains. Back in January 2017 we contracted a mere 9 percent of EU funds, and this year, we'll be at 60 percent, that speak volumes about how successful we are,'' stated Žunac.
The 2017 economy analysis shows that the most prominent economic branches in Zaprešić are trade (23 percent), followed by service activities (16 percent) and professional scientific and technical, construction and manufacturing industries, holding a total of 33 percent.
"The city is doing a lot to improve the infrastructure and conditions for its entrepreneurs, and for this purpose, funds amounting to 6 million kuna have been secured, and this is 100 percent co-financed with European Union money in the entrepreneurial zone in Pojatno, where a completely new road will be built which will attract new businesses and create new jobs,'' said the head of the Zaprešić finance and economic development department, Miljenko Šoštarić.
Satisfied entrepreneurs are the souls of the city, and just how it is to actually be an entrepreneur in Zaprešić, with his own experience of using the EU contribution, is the owner of the Mihaliček company, which employs 50 people with a turnover growth of 10 to 15 percent per year.
"We applied for the tender because the appetities within our company grew, we developed new jobs and got more people. We applied for a crane and a laser machine for installing and processing concrete, and we received 300,000 kuna in non-refundable funds, which was 55 percent of our investment,'' said Stjepan Mihaliček, stating that such a form of contribution to them was relevant because renting or buying used machinery could be at the expense of safety in the workplace.
''In order to encourage as many entrepreneurs as possible to use EU funds, entrepreneurs may submit their email addresses to receive a newsletter containing all the available information on various financing options, including funding opportunities from EU funds with the aim of developing new business ideas and boosting competitiveness on both domestic and foreign markets,'' explained Šoštarić.
Make sure to stay up to date with our business and politics pages for more information on EU funds, how Croatian companies can make use of them, and for everything going on in the political and business world in Croatia.
