Speaking to the press, Grcic said the assumption that Croatia was not prepared for EU funds was wrong and that the EC approved all the operational programmes in October.
He said their approval was required for public procurement for any project to begin and that public procurement took three to six months. "Public procurement is under way for projects worth EUR 480 million, which covers the entire allocation for 2013."
Projects related to water management, railways and environmental protection for next year, exceeding EUR 1 billion, are nearing completion and contracting will begin in late 2014, Grcic said but added that it might happen sooner.
"Partnership agreements are now being adopted, to be followed by the submission of operational programmes to the Commission for approval, which is around June 30 in Croatia's case. It takes another couple of months for approval, and then the accreditation process."
In February, Croatia will get a EUR 150 million advance for 2013, while the advance for 2014 will be paid towards the end of next year, after accreditation for the 2014-20 period is completed, Grcic said, stressing that Croatia had not missed any deadline and that the European Commission had approved all Croatian operational programmes in record time.
Reporters asked him why citizens would believe the reform measures the government presented earlier today. "We have no other choice. There's no room for calculating whether we will implement something or not. We will implement it," he said, adding that the government realised that some measures might be problematic. "We are aware of that. It won't be easy but we must implement it."