The European Commission will approve the first disbursement of funds for Serbia under the Western Balkans Growth Plan in the coming days, Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL) has learned from reliable sources in the institution. Serbia has already received funds in the form of pre-financing from the Growth Plan, and will now receive the first regular payment.
This payment will be worth 61 million euros. As sources in the European Commission have explained, the first tranche was initially planned to be 112 million euros. However, to receive the full amount, Serbia had to fulfill seven reform steps. According to REL sources, Serbia has so far fully fulfilled three of the seven foreseen reforms, which is why the European Commission has decided to reduce the amount of the first tranche.
The remaining funds will be distributed only after Serbia fulfills other foreseen reform obligations. Serbia, at the moment, is the last in the line of countries that are considered to have fulfilled the conditions and have undertaken important reforms to harmonize with the standards of the European Union. The first payment from this package has already been received in October last year by Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia. Without funds from this package, at the moment, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina are left.
The European Commission only approved Bosnia and Herzegovina's Reform Agenda in December, and the funds, including pre-financing, can only start being disbursed once the relevant agreements enter into force and all conditions are met. Kosovo, on the other hand, has not yet approved the loan agreements with the European Commission, due to the institutional crisis last year that prevented the creation of a new executive. The Growth Plan for the Western Balkans represents the European Union's most ambitious financial package for the region.
The total value of the package is 6 billion euros, of which 4 billion are in the form of favorable loans, while 2 billion are non-refundable funds (grants). The funds will be distributed in accordance with the number of inhabitants and gross domestic product of each country. According to preliminary plans, Albania has been allocated 922.1 million euros, Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 billion and 85 million euros, Kosovo 882.6 million euros, Montenegro 383.5 million euros, North Macedonia 750.4 million euros, while Serbia has been allocated 1 billion and 586.4 million euros. All projects financed by the Growth Plan must be completed by the end of 2027 and extensions of deadlines will not be possible.
Bosnia and Herzegovina lost 108 million euros in July last year after failing to meet deadlines for adopting a reform agenda. In such cases, the lost funds are redistributed to other countries in the region.
