Over the next two years, Croatian apartment buildings will undergo energy renovations through an investment of over 1 billion kuna.
Of the 1 billion kuna, 629 million kuna will be funded from the Operational Program for Competitiveness and Cohesion. Based on the tender which was announced by the Ministry of Construction and Urban Planning in late October, 616 projects have been approved for energy renovation, reports Poslovni.hr on February 7, 2017.
The results of the contest were presented on Tuesday at Banski Dvori in Zagreb which was as attended by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. At the opening of the presentation, Plenković pointed out that the benefits of the project will be the reduction of energy costs, CO2 reduction and stimulating the construction sector.
"I think we will have multiplier effects of this great project that has a very concrete and tangible impact on our citizens," Plenković said.
The contest was completed in late January and was based on 648 applications of which 616 were accepted with all of the necessary documentation. The amount of 629 million kuna, said the Prime Minister, is greater than the total allocations for this purpose for the financial period from 2014-2020, which amounts to 70 million euros.
Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Gabrijela Žalac and Minister of Construction and Physical Planning Lovro Kuščević stressed the importance of the exceptional interest of the citizens, which has significantly increased the use of allocated EU funds.
The Ministry of Construction will co-finance 60 percent of the approved project, and the co-owners of buildings will finance the remaining 40 percent, which equates to an investment of 1 billion kuna over the next two years.
"We all know how much it would mean for energy saving, the development of the Croatian construction sector, and the reduction of CO2. And not least, this project will beautify the perspective of our cities, towns and villages," said Kuščević.
These allocated projects, said the Minister, include 1.4 million square meters, or more than 17,000 households. The average age of each building is around 50 years, and after the renovation there is an expected 66.8 percent of energy savings and a reduction of CO2 by 20,500 tons. The most common energy ratings for buildings that are allocated funds are D and E.
Most of the projects were received in Rijeka (128), followed by Zagreb (80), Split (30), Osijek (27) and Pula (25). The biggest apartment building which will be renewed is in Velika Gorica with an allocated amount of 15 million kuna for the energy renovation.
"This is not the end of our program for energy renewal," said Kuščević, who added that on February 20 the tender will close for educational institutions, for which 152 million kuna is allocated.
Kuščević also announced that by the end of the month, the government will have adopted a program for energy renovation of public buildings (schools, boarding schools and hospitals) for which the Ministry of Regional Development will provide 211 million euros.
