Contracts signed so far under the HRK 18.5 billion Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem development programme are worth 16.5 billion, which shows that the programme is going in the right direction, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said after a meeting of the Council for Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem in the eastern town of Nasice on Monday.

Plenkovic said that 66 contracts worth nearly HRK 440 million would be presented to their beneficiaries after this press conference and that an annex to the development agreement had been presented, which defines projects for the five eastern counties worth a total of HRK 10.7 billion.

He said that more than HRK 6 billion had been disbursed for projects since the previous Council meeting in Vukovar.

Plenkovic recalled that the government had launched this programme four years ago, aware that four of the five counties were at the bottom of the development ranking of the Croatian counties.

The Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds, Natasa Tramisak, expressed satisfaction with the signing of Annex 2 to the Development Agreement, saying that it covers major projects such as reconstruction of the Okucani-Vinkovci railway line, worth HRK 1.1 billion, and reconstruction of Osijek airport, worth about HRK 400 million.

Speaking of forthcoming changes to the classification of NUTS-2 regions, Tramisak said that as of 2021 Croatia would have four NUTS-2 regions instead of the present two.

“We will ensure greater economic development of the regions that are lagging behind. Under the new regional aid map, in Pannonian Croatia it will be possible to use grants of 50% to as much as 70%, which makes a big difference compared to the present situation,” Tramisak said, adding that regional aid would also increase for other parts of the country.

She said that five strategic sectors in this region were information and communications technologies, metal and wood processing industries, agriculture and food industry, and tourism.

“These five key strategic sectors will receive incentives to ensure job creation and corporate development,” the minister said.