Plenković was visiting Topusko, a town in Sisak-Moslavina County, where he attended a meeting of the task force dealing with the aftermath of the 29 December earthquake in the county.
He said that at the meeting a project was presented to build a smart spa town to help Topusko become of the centres of medical tourism in the country.
Plenković said that by reforming the financing of local and regional government units the government had secured an additional HRK 150 million in revenue for those units and that so far two billion kuna worth of EU-funded projects had been agreed.
He recalled that the government had granted around HRK 200 million in job-keeping support for more than 15,000 local workers.
“The government wants, and its expert team has already made a draft programme for the revitalisation of Sisak-Moslavina County, to ensure an integral approach that will enable both demographic revitalisation and economic development, social inclusion and better transport connectivity,” he said, noting that the county was burdened by problems related to economic transition, socialist legacy, consequences of the 1990s Homeland War and most recently, the pandemic and earthquakes.
He said today’s meeting also discussed a project for an expressway between Popovača and Ogulin to better connect Slavonia with the region of Lika and Karlovac County and help in the development of Sisak-Moslavina County.
The head of the task force dealing with the aftermath of the 29 December 2020 earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County, War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved, said that so far more than 4,000 requests for emergency repairs on earthquake-damaged properties had been submitted and that as of 1 May the reconstruction of nonstructural elements of the buildings would start so that conditions could be created until summer to make it possible for close to 20,000 families to return home.
Topusko Mayor Ivica Kuzmić said that he was happy about the project to restore Topusko’s status of a continental tourism centre.
The project “Topusko – A smart spa town”, worth HRK 600 million, envisages the renovation of existing spa facilities and reconstruction of facilities and infrastructure damaged in the 1990s war, and the construction of new spa facilities.
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