The Monitoring Committee of the Interreg VI-A IPA Programme Croatia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro 2021–2027 has approved three joint strategic projects by institutions from these three countries, with a total estimated value of around 30 million euros.
The approved projects will be funded by the European Union through non-refundable grants covering 85% of total costs, while the remaining 15% will be provided through national co-financing.
The projects will focus on climate change adaptation, healthcare, and agricultural innovation and are the result of agreements among national authorities, in line with programme priorities.
The INEREP project (Inter-border Emergency Response Enhancement Project), with a total value of around 14.8 million euros, is led by the County of Split-Dalmatia. The general goal is to reduce the risk of natural disasters and increase ecological resilience by strengthening the organizational and technical capacities of emergency services in fire protection and rescue. The Montenegrin partner in the project is the Ministry of the Interior.
Seven institutions will implement the LIFEGATE project (Linking International Facilities for Early Detection and Global Access to Treatment and Evaluation), led by the University Clinical Hospital Mostar. With an estimated total value of 9.55 million euros, the aim of this project is to reduce mortality from cardiovascular and malignant diseases by improving access to all levels of healthcare. Partners from Montenegro are the Clinical Centre and the Institute of Public Health.
The SATECON project (Smart Agri Tech Connect), with a total value of 6.4 million euros, will be implemented by eight partner institutions, led by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing of the University of Zagreb. The main goal of the project is to strengthen the agricultural sector by establishing a sustainable framework for systematic capacity development and the adoption of smart technologies in agriculture. Montenegrin partners in the project are the University of Montenegro (Institute of Marine Biology and the Biotechnical Faculty) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management.
In the coming period, the contracting process for the projects will follow, after which the start dates for implementation and the final project values will be known.