Miscevic: Serbia ready for EU Growth Plan projects

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister for European Integration Tanja Miscevic says Serbia is absolutely ready for projects to be included in the European Commission's Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.

Speaking to Blic, Miscevic said that, under a proposal, funds to be provided as part of the plan would be disbursed in the form of grants and much cheaper loans guaranteed by the EU.

She said this was the same model the EU was using to assist post-COVID recovery in its member states.

"There are two ways they (the funds) will arrive in Serbia. The first is as direct budget support for reform areas to be proposed by us. The second is as additional funds for financing infrastructure projects whose preparations are already in the mature stage. That is railway and road infrastructure, as well as the power generation system," Miscevic said, noting that access to the funds was conditional upon monitoring of the implementation of a strategic reform agenda.

She said work on the agenda was underway and that it defined areas such as improvement of the business environment, green and digital transformation, capacity-building and, above all, rule of law reforms.

Under the 2024-2027 Growth Plan for the Western Balkans adopted by the European Commission on November 8, 2 bln euros will be provided to the region as grants and a further 4 bln as favourable loans.