ĐURĐEVAC BECOMES UNLIKELY EU FUND ABSORPTION STAR

Đurđevac, an unassuming town in continental Croatia, has become quite the unlikely EU fund absorption star, having used the most EU cash for city projects.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Đurđevac is among the Croatian cities that have used the most European Union (EU) money for city projects over the past nine years. There are almost no areas in which investments haven’t been made, and the new Centre for People with Disabilities project has just been completed.

In the Đurđevac Centre for Persons with Disabilities, furniture is currently being installed in the kitchens. and all of the rooms are ready and waiting for their very first tenants. The contracts of the relevant ministry on the financing of social services have now also arrived.

“There will be ten beneficiaries in half-day residences, ten in full-day residences and 32 beneficiaries in organised housing with different levels of support on offer to them,” Mirjana Šandor, secretary of the City Society of Persons with Disabilities, revealed recently to HRT.

The former building of the city administration, which was crying out for renovation, has become a real beauty, and soon it will be a home for about fifty people with disabilities. In addition to the high standard of equipment and decoration, the users, who will be selected according to certain criteria by the local social care centre, will be accompanied by the support of experts, carers and therapists.

“We’ve had a lot of inquiries, many people are interested, the need for this sort of centre exists even outside of the main area of Đurđevac itself,” said Šandor.

As many as 140 rooms in the building have been renovated, the environment was improved and a vehicle for people with disabilities was purchased. Everything was financed from the European Fund for Regional Development at a cost of two million euros. New projects are also now awaiting final decisions and rubber stamping on financing.

“For now, we’ve been notified of the extension of the school for the introduction of one-shift classes, we have also been notified of the arrangement of the Stari grad fortress with landscaping for the development of tourist activities. We’re also preparing for development in the rural parts of the town for the development of infrastructure,” explained Hrvoje Janči, Đurđevac’s mayor.

They’re also planning to develop local agriculture as part of the wine-making centre of Đurđevac, because there are about two thousand small vineyards and winegrowers in the vicinity, and therefore great potential. The development momentum of this settlement in the very heart Podravina has also been confirmed by the budget of about 20 million euros, while a decade ago, that budget had a much less 20 million kuna on offer.