The government on Monday sent a request to the European Commission for the payment of the third €700 million tranche as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), for which 45 reforms and investments had to be carried out.

To date, Croatia has received a €818m advance and two tranches of €700m each under the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), or 40% of the €5.5 billion available in grants, the government said in a press release.

Since the implementation of the NRRP began, the government has carried out the 104 reforms and investments planned thus far.

After the thirdtranche is paid by the end of the year, Croatia will be the first EU member state to have received more than 50% of the funds available under the RRF.

“By utilising European funds, we are generating a faster growth and greater resilience of the Croatian economy, which has successfully weathered a number of crises we have faced,” Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic was quoted as saying.

NRRP funds are being used to invest in the construction of kindergartens, schools and gymnasiums across Croatia, in the health and transport infrastructure, and in projects in energy, water supply, tourism, science, and post-earthquake reconstruction, he said. “Thereby we are directly raising Croatian citizens’ quality of life.”