Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

IPA funds for 36 projects in Serbia

Belgrade, 29 September 2008

Serbian Assistant Minister of Finance Gordana Lazarevic said that the European Commission decided today that Serbia will receive funds worth €584.4 million from the EU Instrument of Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) programme, 36 projects will be financed with the sum, and the deadline for implementing the projects is 2010.

In a statement to the news agency Tanjug, Lazarevic said that the European Commission approved a plan for providing financial assistance to Serbia, within the framework of the IPA programme, for the period from 2008 to 2010. She added that the funds are meant for support to reforms and development in Serbia.

She said that the funds will be officially approved in November or December this year, and the Serbian government will then sign a financial agreement at the beginning of 2009.

She said that the funds worth nearly €584.4 million are according to the Serbian government’s expectations, at a moment when Serbia still does not have candidate status and has not begun negotiations for membership.

According to Lazarevic, the funds, among others, will be used for projects such as support to development of infrastructure at the municipal level (€45 million), environmental protection in the energy sector (€11 million), strengthening institutional capacities of the National Bank of Serbia (€2.5 million), regulating public finances (€2 million).

Lazarevic said that €6 million will be set aside for assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons, €3 million for the media and €4 million for school fees.

Funds will also be used for supporting project preparation (€6 million), implementation of an information system in the health sector (€7.5 million) increasing competition among small enterprises (€3 million), basic education for adults (€4.5 million), development of an information system for border management (€4 million) and medical waste treatment (€6 million).