The government on Thursday adopted a small grants programme worth a total of HRK 10 million to assist wood processing businesses and furniture manufacturers from Sisak-Moslavina, Zagreb and Karlovac counties in repairing earthquake damage.

A maximum HRK 1.4 million will be granted per business to repair the damage to production technology and equipment, information and communications technology and production and business facilities.

The Agriculture Ministry will announce the public tender.

There are about 150 micro, small, medium and large wood processing enterprises and furniture manufacturers employing more than 2,400 people in the quake-hit area. Some of those enterprises, Agriculture Minister Marija Vuckovic said, have sustained damage to production capacities, which has resulted in a reduction or stoppage in production and it is necessary to repair the damage to continue with production.

Those activities, she said, have a significant economic and social dimension precisely in areas that are less developed and populated. In Croatia, those activities account for 11% of the employed in the manufacturing industry, and they make up 7% of exports and 7% of Croatia’s manufacturing industry income.