28.10.2025.
Deputy Prime Minister and minister of the sea, transport and infrastructure Oleg Butković, director of the Fund Luka Balen, and director of the Central Finance and Contracting Agency for EU Programmes and Projects (CFCA) Dragan Jelić, signed a contract allocating EUR 21.2 million intended for the procurement of alternatively powered vehicles.Director Balen described this successful programme aimed at Croatian entrepreneurs who recognised the importance of investing in the modernisation of their fleets and applied to the call for co-financing the purchase of electric vehicles. "In previous years, the Fund financed incentives for the purchase of energy-efficient vehicles from national funds, but this year the Government of the Republic of Croatia secured financing from European sources under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure allocated these resources to the Fund, which is implementing a public call," said Balen, pointing out that these investments were also significant in the context of reducing transport emissions and would, in the long term, contribute to better air quality in our cities.
At the ceremony, grant agreements were also signed for the procurement of alternative propulsion vehicles for public urban and suburban transport services for the cities of Križevci, Krapina, Ludbreg, Varaždin, and Dubrovnik. The total value of these five projects is 20.17 million euros, and 29 electric buses will be purchased.
"With these contracts, we are starting a new chapter in the development of modern and green public transport. Today, we are signing contracts for five cities, in addition to the one already signed last week for Rijeka. In total, 17 cities will be included, and the project is worth more than 143 million euros, which will allow procurement of over 200 alternatively powered buses," said minister Butković. He added that such projects represented an important step towards the green transition of Croatian transport, which is part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. "In the previous financial perspective, we invested in more modern diesel engines, and now we are switching to electric and hydrogen vehicles, which is a real milestone in public transport. In addition to these projects, we also have a contract with the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund on the procurement of 2,000 new vehicles powered by alternative fuels, with a total value of more than 21 million euros," said the minister.
All these projects are conducive to achieving the goals of modernisation of public urban and suburban transport, reduction of CO₂ emissions, increase of energy efficiency and harmonisation with European sustainable mobility standards.
