A HRK 287 million grant agreement for the Lucino Razdolje Waste Management Centre was signed in Dubrovnik on Friday, a project envisaging the construction of the centre and six transshipment stations.

The contract was signed by Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Coric, Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund president Sinisa Kukic and Waste Management Agency director Josip Bacic.

Eligible costs amount to HRK 408.7 million, of which HRK 287 million are coming from the EU Competitiveness and Cohesion Fund. The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund will cover 19.82% of the costs and Dubrovnik-Neretva County 10%.

Transshipment stations will be built in Dubrovnik, Metkovic, Janjina and on the Mljet, Lastovo and Korcula islands.

County head Nikola Dobroslavic said Lucino Razdolje was a key project for waste management in southern Croatia and of strategic importance for Dubrovnik-Neretva County and all of Croatia.

He said the fact that the EU would cover 70% of the cost “confirms the project was designed according to the highest EU standards. Arguments that the project is questionable are pointless.”

Two citizens’ initiatives protested outside the Dubrovnik City Hall to warn that the project’s feasibility study was published on the day the contract for the project was signed.

(€1 = HRK 7.4)