A State Secretary in the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, Spomenka Đurić, informed the parliament on Wednesday that the largest part of these that allocation, that is about 23 million francs, will be invested in the development of Gorski Kotar.
"The supply and quality of drinking water in Gorski kotar will be upgraded, as well as the infrastructure for wastewater treatment, and the introduction of energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy sources should also be mentioned," said Đurić, while presenting the Framework Agreement between Croatia and Switzerland on the Implementation of the second Swiss Contribution to selected member states of the European Union to reduce economic and social disparities within the European Union.
A total of 5.5 million francs will be spent on palliative care programs, that is, on improving the quality of life of patients and their family members, while 7.6 million will go to the program for the development of transparency and civil society organisations.
Social Democratic Party MP Boris Lalovac believes that Croatia can benefit from the proposed agreement if the funds go for scientific research projects through which Croatian citizens will acquire new knowledge and skills.
"These kinds of programs are good for small countries. In addition to installing some water pipes, we can get 'know how', knowledge, information, research from the Swiss, and ultimately, through higher productivity, and an increase in wages," he pointed out.
The majority of parliamentary groups will support the framework agreement proposal, but the opposition said that receiving Swiss aid proves that Croatia is a poor country, otherwise it would not be among the countries receiving funds.
"We are not at the back of the EU, we are progressing. We have certainly made more progress than Bulgaria and Romania, we are catching up with other members such as Slovakia and the Czech Republic, where the average GDP has grown from 61 percent to 72 percent of the EU average," HDZ MP Pavić said during the discussion on the framework agreement between Croatia and Switzerland.