Culture Minister Nina Obuljen-Korzinek denied on Thursday that the European Commission had turned down Croatia's request for an extension of the deadline for utilising European funds for post-earthquake reconstruction, saying that Croatia had not made such a request.

Jutarnji List daily reported today that Zagreb had received a letter from the Commission dismissing the idea of extending the deadline for spending money from the Solidarity Fund, and that Croatia would likely have to pay back the approved 5.1 billion kuna because it would not be able to spend it within 18 months, by June this year.

“That’s not true. It’s neither a rejection nor a response to any request,” the minister told the press. “We haven’t requested a deadline extension nor is that being considered at the moment.”

The letter is a follow-up to a December meeting between Croatian and Commission representatives at which they agreed on the pace of further work and reporting to the Commission, she said.

Journalists were referring to that and reported as an alleged rejection the part talking about deadlines, she added.

“One should not speculate as to whether the deadlines will have to be extended. It would be flippant to forecast six months before the deadline what will and what won’t be realised,” she said, adding that the next meeting with the Commission was due early in March.

To date Croatia has spent only 2% of the 5.1 billion kuna from the European fund used to finance only urgent reconstruction after the March 2020 earthquake which hit Zagreb.

The projects submitted for funding total 11 billion kuna and 8 billion kuna has been contracted. Subsequent reconstruction stages will be financed from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and other sources.

“We knew from the start that it was a long-standing project, but I’m confident that we are working on it as it should be done, professionally and following all the rules. Unfortunately, it takes time,” Obuljen-Korzinek said.

(€1 = 7.5 kuna)