Another HUF 170 billion (EUR 445 million) of EU funds has arrived in Hungary, Finance Minister Mihály Varga announced on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
This means that in the past few days, “We have received a total of HUF 470 billion (EUR 1.2 billion) in EU funds due to Hungary,” the Minister said. On Thursday last week, EUR 779.5 million (HUF 300 billion) was received from the recovery funds, and on Tuesday, EUR 445 million was transferred from the EU budget for the 2021-2027 period. Of this amount, EUR 240 million will support the development of the Integrated Transport Operational Program Plus and EUR 205 million for the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Program Plus, Mihály Varga said.
As Index reports, the European Commission decided back in December to release EUR 10 billion of the EUR 22 billion the Hungarian government is due from the 2021-2027 Cohesion Fund.
“After a thorough assessment and several exchanges with the Hungarian government, the Commission considers that Hungary has taken the measures it committed to take in order for the Commission to consider that the horizontal enabling condition on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is fulfilled in what concerns judicial independence.
This means part of the above-mentioned funding would no longer be blocked, and therefore Hungary may start claiming reimbursements of up to around €10.2 billion,”
the European Commission wrote in a statement back in December.
On January 2, the European Commission transferred the first part of the previously blocked 2021-2027 cohesion funds (EUR 445 million), to start refinancing the EU’s operational programs for the new development period, according to a government statement on kormany.hu. The statement also reveals that the government has already started implementing the development programs in 2021, and has so far advanced the costs from domestic sources.
Nearly 9,300 support contracts worth around HUF 1,600 billion (EUR 4 billion) have been concluded in the area and settlement development, digital, transport, and economic development programs, and the amount of support paid out exceeds HUF 1,200 billion (EUR 3 billion),”
the statement reads.
Via MTI, Index; Featured image: Pixabay
