Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Natasa Tramisak on Friday reiterated that money from the European Solidarity Fund was intended primarily for urgent post-earthquake repairs and not for the reconstruction of family houses and residential buildings.

That is why there is a deadline of 18 months to utilise those funds, she added.

Money from the Solidarity Fund is earmarked primarily for urgent repairs, accommodating the population, repairing water supply and electricity grids if necessary, and that is why the deadline to utilise these funds is so short, 18 months to be precise, Tramisak told reporters when asked about the pace of reconstruction in the Banovina region and whether Croatia will have to pay the funds back to the EU.

Tramisak explained that the money from the Solidarity Fund is not intended for the reconstruction of family houses or residential buildings but exclusively for public use, public buildings and urgent repairs.

“We are monitoring the situation that occurred in other EU countries. We know that 24 EU member states used the Solidarity Fund for various emergency situations, such as floods, wildfires and earthquakes. We will see in June how much has been spent and for what and how the situation will unfold after that,” she said.