First Grants for the Wood Industry for 2010

Today in Delnice, the Minister of Regional Development, Forestry and Water Management, Božidar Pankretić, signed contracts for the allocation of non-repayable capital aid to promote the development and sustainability of wood processing and furniture production with representatives of 19 companies.

The total value of the contracts signed today is 22.8 million kuna, and these are the first grants for the allocation of non-repayable capital aid to promote the development and sustainability of wood processing and furniture production for this year. For 2010, grants are planned in the total amount of 65 million kuna, and from 2007 to 2009, a total of 157.4 million kuna in grants was allocated to co-finance 527 investment projects.

Pankretić emphasized that the government has recognized the wood industry as strategic and respectable, and that the Strategy for the Development of the Wood and Paper Industry was adopted as early as 2004. He highlighted that wood processing and furniture production export 75 percent of their production, and that the 65 million kuna in grants for this year will be an incentive for further development, supported by the fact that as many as 124 entities are entering new investments, which is significant in the context of exiting the economic crisis and increasing production.

A total of 248 applications were received for the competition announced in March based on the Operational Program for the Development of the Wood Industry of the Republic of Croatia 2006-2010, and after processing, 186 satisfactory applications were identified. The grant funds are intended for co-financing investment projects in the areas of wood processing technology and furniture production, energy efficiency, environmental protection, marketing, research and development, innovation and design, and technical harmonization.

One of the main goals of the Operational Program is to develop and promote entrepreneurship in areas of special state interest, and in the 2010 competition, funding was awarded to 41 business entities from areas of special state care and 33 from mountainous areas, representing a total share of 40 percent. Contracts for grants were signed today by Belišće, Finvest Corp, Viševica Komp, Tvin Wood Industry, Valis Fagus, PPS Majur, Požgaj, Pana, Pan Parket, Lokve, MMM Vukelić, Javor, Drvoproizvod, Drvenjača, DI Klana, DI Čazma, Lipa, Hrast-Export-Puklavec, and Drvodjelac. (H)