The funds for this and next year, amounting to EUR245 million, will be available to Croatia given its status of an EU candidate country.
According to the head of the Euroinfo centre, Zlatko Baziance, most of the funds came from the PHARE, IPSA and SAPARD programmes. He said that apart from seminars the Euroinfo centre will organise a number of workshops for the concrete preparation which will be applied for financial assistance from pre-accession funds.
An official from the Croatian European Integration Ministry, Natasa Mikus, said that Croatia was given a total of EUR160 million from the PHARE programme for the establishment of institutions and economic and social cohesion in 2005 and 2006.
A total of EUR25 million was allocated to Croatia from the ISPA programme for the environment and transportation in 2005 and another EUR25 million from the SAPARD programme for assistance in agriculture and rural development in 2006.
In its process of drawing closer to the EU, Croatia will be able to use funds from the programme of short-term technical assistance for the exchange of information -- TAIEX.
Mikus also announced that in line with the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, Croatia companies will be able to take part in bids for the public supply in the EU as of February 1 under same conditions as companies from the EU member-states.