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Fund provides additional HRK 25 million for CWMC Bikarac

29.11.2022.

An addendum to the contract providing the additional HRK 25 million for the County Waste Management Centre Bikarac was signed in Šibenik. The contract was signed by the mayor of Šibenik-Knin County, Marko Jelić, the director of the Fund, Luka Balen, and the director of CWMC Bikarac, Robert Podrug. The minister of economy and sustainable development, Davor Filipović, and the mayor of Šibenik, Željko Burić were also present at the signing ceremony. “The signing of this addendum today will complete the financial package for this project, which is already showing the long-term benefits for the Town of Šibenik and the entire Šibenik-Knin County with a quality and sustainable waste management system, which is in line with the highest European standards,” said Luka Balen, the director of the Fund. He added that the Town of Šibenik was earnestly thinking through their development in a sustainable manner, and that it was the first town in Dalmatia to build this type of plant. The utilities infrastructure has been completed, and the modern waste management centre is the crowning achievement of this process.

Minister Davor Filipović expressed his pleasure with being present at the signing of the contract to successfully finalise the Bikarac waste management centre project.
“Here at Bikarac, we have the most modern plant for the mechanical and biological treatment of waste in Croatia. From the moment I took office, I have been in contact with mayor Burić, who was doing all in his power to speed up the implementation of this project. The Croatian Government adopted the decision to round off this financial package with 25 million kunas, which will be provided by the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund. The investment costs increased during the implementation of the project, so the Fund had to increase the resources by 12 million kunas, while Šibenik was supposed to co-finance the construction with a little under 13 million. We decided that both will be financed by the Fund to help the town of Šibenik. This money can be put to another use to help improve the quality of life of the citizens of Šibenik. At the same time, we wanted to show recognition to those who were doing excellent work and support them,” said minister Filipović.

Mayor Burić emphasised that the construction of the Bikarac centre was a great achievement of the town administration, especially since they managed to secure co-financing partly from the EU funds, partly by the State and EPEEF, and partly by the Town of Šibenik.
“Šibenik is an exemplar of establishing a comprehensive waste management system in line with the obligations the Republic of Croatia took on by signing the Treaty of Accession with the European Union. The town is currently working on the new locations for underground containers, with 22 such bins already in place. We have also started installing underground recycling containers,” said the mayor of Šibenik, Burić.
The director of WMC Bikarac, Robert Podrug, thanked the Fund and the line Ministry for their help in project preparation and implementation. Any problems they encountered were resolved jointly, and resulting in one of only three such centres in Croatia.

The mayor of Šibenik-Knin County, Marko Jelić, added that Šibenik was a unique and successful example of waste management. He invited his fellow citizens to take care of the environment, to stop fly-tipping the waste, and to recycle seeing as the preconditions for waste disposal according to the highest standards had been met.
“We want to have as little landfilled waste as possible, because it means that we separate the waste properly, thus saving some money and contributing to protecting the environment. I hope the citizens will take this seriously, especially since this type of waste management system requires certain costs. If you want to lower your costs, value the waste; it’s not garbage, it’s raw material,” said county mayor Jelić.