Projects for the reconstruction of public buildings and infrastructure hit by 2020 earthquakes in Zagreb and Banija, worth €2.96 billion, have been contracted so far, according to the relevant ministry, and Croatia has so far spent half of the €1.03 billion approved by the EU Solidarity Fund.

Croatia needs to use slightly over one billion euros from the EU Solidarity Fund by the end of June, and requests for compensation worth €513.7 million have been submitted so far, which is 51.22% of the total allocation. Of this, approximately €342.2 million or 34.12% of the total allocation have been paid out.

Figures provided by the Ministry of Physical Planning, Reconstruction and State Assets show that of 1,318 contractual projects, 569 of them have been completed so far, of which 257 relate to the renovation of public buildings, and the rest to measures such as emergency rehabilitation, temporary accommodation and financing of rescue services.

There are 239 public building renovation projects, including schools, hospitals, museums and sacred buildings, and 111 infrastructure projects such as roads and communal infrastructure worth €1.8 billion.

A total of €490 million is left to be used from the Solidarity Fund, so the difference will be financed from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO) and other sources such as the new multi-year financial plan, state and county budgets, the ministry says.

When it comes to the renovation of private houses and buildings, so far 31,318 requests have been received from citizens, of which slightly more than 40% have been processed, and works worth €253.8 million have been contracted.

Less demanding renovations, which refer to, for example, chimneys, staircases and gable walls, have been completed or are in progress on 8,083 houses or private buildings.

More demanding structural renovations have been completed or are underway on 49 buildings. Eleven houses were built, 95 are under construction, and 911 houses and buildings were removed.

Procurement of 500 mobile homes
The Ministry has recently launched four procurement procedures for a building reconstruction project for 88 family homes in the Sisak-Moslavina region that suffered damage in the 2020 earthquakes, and seven procurement procedures for the preparation of project documentation for the reconstruction of 336 damaged buildings.

A few days ago, the procurement of mobile homes for the temporary accommodation of users of container accommodation, which still houses 2,400 families, was referred to the consultation. The procurement process refers to 500 houses, 25 square meters in size, for one to two people and 35 square meters for up to four people. The total estimated value of the procurement is €14 million.

The ministry plans to install these mobile homes as a temporary housing solution by June 30 in order to pay for them with the funds of the European Solidarity Fund.

In addition, 10 more housing care models are planned, such as self-renovation, rent financing, purchase of replacement houses and construction of replacement houses and buildings.