Ariana Vela: The public sector heavily relies on EU funds, and we will not utilize all available money

Ariana Vela is a leading Croatian consultant for EU funds. Her company Avelant has completed over 500 projects worth more than five billion euros. With such a background, this entrepreneur, who is currently writing a doctoral dissertation on how existing support systems truly help entrepreneurs grow their competitiveness, is a relevant interlocutor on the use of EU funds, especially at the beginning of a year when we have the most programs and a record amount of funds available. However, the start of the conversation was directed by the recent change at the head of the ministry responsible for European Union funds.

How do you view the change ‘due to lack of trust’ and will anything change with Šime Erlić taking over from Nataša Tramišak?

– Ministerial changes in this area represent modus operandi that we have all become accustomed to. Therefore, this change does not need to be commented on as it is a done deal. However, for us in the sector, it is always important that the minister has an ear for the recommendations we provide, as they are aimed at improving procedures and facilitating access to EU funding for users. That is what I expect from Erlić, and time will tell if he has the ear and capacity to steer our EU ship to its destination. EU funds are unforgiving in this sense, and it is easy to determine how successful each minister really is.

In nine and a half years, we have drawn 8.55 billion euros from ESIF funds, which is 80 percent of the allocated funds, and with the advance from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO), the state budget is in the plus by 68.23 billion kuna. That is one billion euros a year. Is that little or a lot?

– I do not like it when all these allocations are lumped together because then it is impossible to discern what the annual allocations are and how much we have utilized from that. When two financial perspectives are thrown together, along with an instrument like the NPOO, it creates an unclear picture. It would be much more precise and transparent if we separated the financial perspectives and stated what the allocation for 2014 – 2020 is, how much is planned for each year, and how much of that has been utilized, i.e., invoiced and certified. Then we would see exactly where we stand and what the actual decommitment is, or how much we had to or will have to return. Furthermore, we do not know what the advances from the NPOO are for, and the problem is that politics often presents advances as if they are utilized funds. These advances actually do not relate to usability but to the cash flow that the state has, and we still do not know how much of that advance will be spent. Nevertheless, globally, considering what we are dealing with and what the capacities of Croatia as a state are, I think that 80 percent utilization of the allocation is good.

If that is really 80 percent…

– That is a conditional 80 percent because we do not have transparent data and a clear overall picture. It is a shame. With the right indicators, we could better detect our strengths, but also our weaknesses, and then work on and correct those weaknesses instead of persistently hiding them. And when we do not have a clear picture, every comment is purely political in nature.

How significant is the weight of corruption in this whole story? Everything goes to the very top – caught with their fingers in the jam at the end of 2021 were both the former minister and the head of the Central Agency for Financing and Contracting of EU Programs and Projects (SAFU).

– First, we will see how these criminal proceedings will end. We cannot condemn anyone before they are actually convicted. We must be cautious here. But it is very ugly. All of us in this sector are subject to extremely strict procedures, and it is precisely these bodies that control and penalize our users, and thus us. And then the one who penalizes you does things for which we – if we had done them – would never be able to apply for EU funds again. That is a disaster and shameful for the state if it is proven to be true. And what is the minister’s motivation to, if it is true, pay for a private dinner with public money? If he becomes a minister at the age of 40 – 45 and has no money for dinner, then the question is whether he should be a minister. I think this is a clash of greed, excessive self-confidence, and personal identification by the logic of ‘the state – that is me.’

This year, the budget is filled with a record 20 percent of funds from the EU, which will gradually begin to decrease. How will Croatia compensate for this year’s budget of five billion euros in the next five to ten years? Smaller budget or higher taxes?

– What will happen globally and in the EU, we do not know. We do not know what Croatia will look like either. We are losing population, which is why GDP per capita is rising, and undesirably and unrealistically, we are entering a higher level of development. This is very complex. But the state will feel that loss. We will see how much of the allocation will be utilized, so that unused money will not be lacking. But the fact is that the public sector heavily relies on EU funds. It is also a fact that we will not be able to utilize all the money available to us. There will be interesting transformations and transitions happening here. I do not think that in seven to eight years we can fully compensate for EU funds. If non-repayable financing decreases, planning will have to be done much more qualitatively, and decisions will have to be made for investments that are truly necessary.

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