More than 6 billion kuna (€800 million) have been invested from national funds into "different activities and projects for the islands" in the 2016-20 period, the Regional Development Ministry's State Secretary, Spomenka Djuric, told the Croatian Parliament on Friday, state agency Hina reported.

In addition, EU-funded projects worth 7 billion kuna (€933 million) have been agreed for the development of Croatian islands, Djuric said, “while presenting draft amendments to the Islands Act under which the amount of water for island inhabitants at subsidized prices would increase from 45 to 85 cubic metres per year,” Hina reported.

The government-sponsored draft amendments also provide for state subsidies covering up to 50 percent of the cost of transport of the water supplied to individuals and legal entities in communities still without connections to the public water supply network.

This state subsidy covers 4,234 households with more than 7,200 members, and in 2020, 17 million kuna (€2.3 million) was paid for that purpose, she said.

Croatia has 1,244 islands,  and 45 islands are permanently or temporarily inhabited, with 51 maritime routes, 58 community health centers, 102 primary and 13 high schools, and 23 care homes.

(€1 = 7.50 kuna)