The Republic of North Macedonia is one of the most successful countries in using IPARD funds. At today's fourth meeting of the IPARD Monitoring Committee, DG AGRI shared the following comparative data:
The implementation of the IPARD II Programme (2014-2020) in all countries (Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey) ends on 31 December 2024. In the Republic of North Macedonia, at the end of the third quarter of 2024, out of a total of 60 million euros allocated by the European Union for this programme, EU payments in the amount of 47,735,412 euros were made, thus achieving an exceptionally successful utilisation rate of 79.6% of the allocated funds. The utilisation rate of IPARD II funds by the Republic of North Macedonia is better than the utilisation rate of Albania (59.1%), Montenegro (72.2%) and Serbia (49.1%) and weaker only than that of Turkey (96.5%).
On November 29, 2023, the Republic of North Macedonia was the first to sign the Financing Agreement for the IPARD III Programme (2021-2027) before the other four countries, with a total of 97 million euros in European Union funds allocated. So far, the country has been accredited to implement four measures of this programme - 1, 3, 7 and 9 without additional conditions. This marks progress compared to Albania, which has not signed a Financing Agreement and is not accredited for any measure, Montenegro, which is accredited for three measures conditionally, and Serbia, which is also accredited for four measures, but conditionally. Turkey, for comparison, has the largest number of accredited measures, a total of 6 without conditions.
So far, three public calls for applications for funding have been announced within the framework of the IPARD III Programme in the Republic of North Macedonia, two of which have already been closed (one for measures 1 and 7, and one for measure 3). The third public call for measure 7 is open for submission of applications until 20 December 2024. The fourth public call for measure 1 is in preparation. Thus, the country has achieved better results in publishing public calls for the IPARD III Programme than Albania, which has not published a single public call, Serbia, which has published and closed two public calls, and weaker results than Montenegro, which has published four calls (of which three have been closed), and Turkey, which has published five calls (of which three have been closed). So far, the Republic of North Macedonia has recorded continuous progress in the implementation of the programme in terms of the number of public calls, submitted applications and concluded contracts.