First Payments from Growth Plan not to Be Made before Mid-2025

The first payments from the Growth Plan will not be made in the first part of the year. As the European Commission’s press-service explains for RFE Macedonian, that will not happen before mid-2025.

Now, the Commission’s finalising procedural steps to enable pre-financing to be released as soon as possible this year, the institution also says.

“The first regular payments are expected between Q2 and Q3 of this year, once proper conditions are met”, it adds.

Experts point out that the issue has occurred because countries from the region are required to strike a loan deal with the EU because one part of the funds are in the form of loans, while the other is in the form of grants. So, such deals are considered international agreements, which is why they have to be ratified by legislative houses.

“It seems the EU is this time more prepared to make payments from this package than countries from the region are prepared to get them”, a Brussels source tells RFE Macedonian.

The Commission hasn’t specifically explained which stage each country is at regarding obligations required for the payments process to start.