Environmental Protection Fund allocating over HRK 600M

ZAGREB, June 3 (Hina) – The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund will allocate over HRK 600 million in grants to citizens and businesses by the end of the year for energy efficiency projects in building construction and transport.

Fund director Sinisa Kukic has said the calls for applications mainly refer to energy efficiency programmes but that plans have been adjusted in order to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake which struck the Zagreb area in March.

For residents whose houses and flats were destroyed in the quake, the Fund will co-finance with up to HRK 8,000 the purchase of condensing boilers. The call for applications will be published next week.

The co-financing of the energy-efficient renovation of family houses is expected to continue after the government amended the relevant programme. The call for applications will be published by the end of the month and citizens may submit them as of early September.

The Fund will co-finance 60% of the costs for all citizens, except for vulnerable groups, in which case the Fund will pay for the whole renovation.

Calls for applications will also be made for the use of renewables in households and public institutions as well as family farms.

In late June and the first half of July, the Fund will continue to co-finance the purchase of electric cars, with HRK 22 million set aside for citizens, the same amount for businesses, and HRK 10 million to be invested in charging stations. Subsidies for the purchase of electric cars will run up to HRK 70,000.

In order to stimulate the development of sustainable mobility, in September the Fund plans to invite applications for HRK 100 million for the co-financing of energy-efficient vehicles running on alternative fuels for city transport worth as well as for HRK 30 million for the promotion of integrated and intelligent transport projects and the development of alternative fuels infrastructure at the local level.

The Fund will also co-finance the transport of waste from the islands to the mainland, and continues to procure and deliver over one million waste collection bins to towns and municipalities.