"The funds are available, we have implementation agencies... the Environmental Protection Fund and the ministry, which is organised in such a way as to ensure the implementation of those projects and I'm sure we'll succeed," Zmajlovic told reporters after the presentation of an environmental protection operational programme being co-financed from the EU's IPA pre-accession programme.
Asked in which term an envisaged EUR 10 billion had to be invested to reach EU standards and carry out investment projects in environmental protection, the minister said the deadline for water management was the end of 2013 and for waste management the end of 2018.
About EUR 4.5 billion is envisaged for water management and about EUR 3.2 billion for waste management.
Zmajlovic said those were "enormous funds" which called for good and well-prepared projects concerning ownership relations, environmental impact studies and construction permits.