The first presentation of the project „Technical assistance to the operating structure for management of the Operational Programme and implementation of projects, Republic of Croatia“ was held in the Delegation of the European Union. The Project is co-financed through EU IPA 2007 - 2011 for Croatia.
Tomislav Mihotić, State Secretary of the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Katarina Cop Bajde, Director of the Directorate of Strategic Infrastructure Objects of the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Peter Schneidewind, Director of Metis Gmbh and Richard Masa, Head of Operations Section for the Delegation of the European Union to Croatia attended the event.
The objective of this project worth € 353.400 is to enhance the capacity of the Operating Structure bodies for project management and management of the Transport Operational Programme.
The Transport Operational Programme represents a strategic basis for the absorption of funds from the part of IPA Component III that refers to transport, and is focused on the railway and inland navigation sector. The Operating Structure is responsible for the implementation of the Operational programme, and is composed of the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Directorate of Strategic Infrastructure Objects, Croatian Railways Infrastructure and Central Finance and Contracting Agency.
The expected results of the project are to increase
the capacity of the Operating Structure for IPA Component IIIa, through knowledge transfer and training, to manage infrastructure projects under IPA. This increased capacity will facilitate the absorption of IPA funds available to Croatia, particularly in railway and inland waterway infrastructure projects.
State Secretary Mihotic said that these capacities will enable the Republic of Croatia to successfully use the pre-accession programmes aimed at co-financing transport infrastructure projects.
The signing of the second technical assistance project for Transport Operating Structure is expected by end of this year, which will further strengthen the implementation capacities and enable the successful implementation of IPA.