Approved funding for 470 projects

The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund will finance 470 projects submitted by local government units and companies in four calls announced by the Fund in July 2008, reported the Fund’s spokesperson Lidija Tošić.

A total of 93 projects applied for co-financing of the program for the remediation of illegal municipal waste landfills, of which the Fund’s Management Board accepted 53 and approved more than 21.7 million kuna. The Fund also approved more than 33.8 million kuna for the purchase of bins and containers for 175 projects, out of 189 submitted for the call.

A call for financial assistance to local government units and loans and interest subsidies for companies for investments in programs and projects aimed at waste recovery and the utilization of its valuable components, cleaner production, reduction of harmful gas emissions, and sustainable rural development has been announced for environmental protection. Out of 143 proposals, 53 were accepted, for which the Fund approved more than 50.3 million kuna.

The call for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources related to investments in programs and projects aimed at increasing energy efficiency in the public sector and the economy, using renewable energy sources, promoting sustainable construction, and cleaner transportation. A total of 233 proposals were received, and 189 projects were accepted for which the Fund approved more than 106.8 million kuna.

Tošić emphasized that there was significant interest in the call for environmental protection and energy efficiency from economic entities. The Fund accepted 130 projects submitted by economic entities. The total investment of these projects amounts to more than one billion kuna, and the Fund co-finances them with approximately 70.6 million kuna. Tošić explained that companies could receive up to 1.7 million kuna in loans for a term of five years with a two-year repayment deferral, or an interest subsidy of up to two percent of the contracted interest rate, but not more than one million kuna per project.

The Fund emphasizes that investing in the aforementioned programs and projects, among other things, reduces harmful environmental impacts, contributes to better protection, encourages the use of renewable energy sources, and simultaneously motivates economic entities to invest money in ecological projects and thus contribute to sustainable development. From 2004 to 2008, the Fund approved more than five billion kuna for 2,927 projects, of which 2,402 projects were for environmental protection and 525 projects for energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources. (H)