March the 24th, 2023 - Croatian post-earthquake reconstruction. Yes, we're still saying it over three years since the earthquake of March 2020. The European Commission (EC) is set to get a detailed look into the state of what's going on, and the government is in a race against time to use the EU cash allocated to it.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, today, the European Commission will be informed of the review of the state of Croatian post-earthquake reconstruction, which is being financed from the EU Solidarity Fund, as well as Croatia's view of costs across all of its ministries.
This meeting was announced by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Branko Bacic, who, on the occasion of the third anniversary of the Zagreb earthquake (March the 22nd), assessed that the aforementioned segment of Croatian post-earthquake reconstruction is being implemented in full as planned, so this gives some hope that the money will be spent within the prescribed deadline.
What has actually been done? The question on many lips...
"The value of all of the works currently being carried out in the area affected by the Zagreb earthquake, which are being financed from FSEU, the NPOO and the state budget, totals 2.2 billion euros. There are a total of 594 projects in question, and 1.1 billion euros is the amount being financed from the FSEU.
For the Zagreb earthquake, 683.3 million euros were contracted from the FSEU, and to date, 58% of the requests for reimbursement of funds for ongoing projects have been submitted. We're satisfied with the pace of renovation of public buildings, but we aren't feeling the same in regard to replacement houses - we failed the assignment there," said Bacic very honestly.
As for FSEU, 295 projects have been completed, i.e. 200 projects for the renovation of public sector buildings, 45 infrastructure projects, primarily regarding to transport but also communal ones, and another 50 projects in which it co-finances temporary housing. In the sector of public buildings for education, 143 projects have been completed and 32 projects are still in their construction phase(s).
The total value stands at a staggering 415 million euros, of which 224 million euros is being financed from the FSEU. When it comes to the healthcare sector, 26 projects have been completed and 19 remain ongoing, and out of 301 million euros, 146 million euros have come from FSEU financing. Regarding the renovation of public buildings of cultural heritage, 31 projects have been completed and 75 of them are in the implementation phase, with a total value of 717 million euros, of which 236 million euros have been sourced from the FSEU.
"When I took over this Ministry, I announced a plan that I believe is achievable: that is, by the end of June, we'll spend the money from the Solidarity Fund, that by the end of October, we'll have taken care of all our 6,258 fellow citizens who are still living in containers, and that, in addition, we'll start the entire Croatian post-earthquake reconstruction process,'' Bacic stated boldly.
"In cooperation with the Croatian Association of Banks, in about ten days, a new bank product will be announced, which involves the use of reconstruction funds, so that the people themselves can decide what needs to be done, and we simply pay the funds in full into the account that is suitable for use, including for the project, the execution of all of the works and supervision, before the work begins. I can say that there#s great interest in the self-renovation financing model in the area of Sisak-Moslavina County," said Bacic, adding that they are also implementing a project and procurement for 500 wooden prefabricated houses.
Fee amounts
The procurement for the execution of structural renovation works of nine multi-apartment buildings in Zagreb and 21 procurements for the construction of replacement houses under the abbreviated procedure of the new rulebook for public procurement is now underway. In addition to the removed 73 houses and six ongoing removals, 271 removals have been contracted. 184 contracts for the design of replacement houses have also been signed.
The plan for 2023 is to complete the design of replacement family houses, and those funds will be paid out for all received requests for non-structural renovation, as well as all financial compensation for structural renovation and construction of replacement family houses based on the self-renovation model, for which a request is received by October the 31st, 2023.
This refers to 100 replacement family houses under construction, 250 buildings and houses structurally renovated or under construction, and 350 buildings and houses non-structurally renovated or under construction.
Taking into account the time spent on the organisation of the self-renovation process as part of the entire Croatian post-earthquake reconstruction project, the state will provide compensation for the tasks of coordination of self-renovation to the owners in the following amounts: for structural renovation 2654.46 euros, for the construction of a replacement house 3318.07 euros, while monetary compensation for buildings up to 700 m² will be 5308.91 euros, for buildings from 700 m² to 1,500 m² - 7,963.37 euros, and for buildings over 1,500 m² - 10,617.82 euros.
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