ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - In 2019 Croatia disbursed HRK 480.84 million (€63.60 million) in development aid, 6% more than the year before, with Bosnia and Herzegovina being the leading recipient.

The State Secretary for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Zdenko Lucić, on Thursday presented in the parliament a report on Croatia's development aid in 2019, the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry said in a press release.

The HRK 480.84 million disbursed as development aid accounts for 0.13% of Croatia's GDP.

Most of the funds were the country's contribution to the EU general budget in the part recognised as development aid, and its mandatory contribution to the European Development Fund in the amount of HRK 73.5 million for 2019.

A total of HRK 130.81 million or 27.27% of the total amount was disbursed for bilateral programmes and development aid projects, with 449 projects having been implemented.

In neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, 199 projects worth HRK 89.06 million were implemented, which makes the country the leading recipient of bilateral development aid.

Apart from Bosnia and Herzegovina, priority geographical areas were Ukraine and Jordan. Croatia supported the European Investment Bank's initiative for economic resilience for countries located on migratory routes, as well as the EU mechanism for refugees in Turkey.

In 2019 Croatia also helped Yemen, Iran, Mozambique and the earthquake-hit Albania, the Ministry said.