February 7 (SeeNews) - Serbia's government has signed a contract to receive 138.5 million euro ($151.7 million) under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) of the European Union for 2019, EU integration minister Jadranka Joksimovic said.
"Of the 138.5 million euro base package, we will have 76.5 million euro for local economic development and support, innovative enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises," Joksimovic said in a statement on Thursday.
The total financial support to Serbia from the EU budget for 2019 amounts to 211 million euro, Joksimovic said.
"In addition to this support for 2019, funds are earmarked for Serbia under the instrument for pre-accession assistance for rural development (IPARD), an incentive for agriculture - 40 million euro, support for civil society organisations - 5 million euro and for special measures in response to the migration crisis - 27.5 million euro," Joksimovic noted.
In December, Serbia opened Chapter 4 - Free Movement of Capital in its EU accession talks.
Serbia started accession talks with the EU in January 2014 and has already opened 18 of the 35 chapters of the EU body of law, two of which were provisionally closed.
($ = 0.912792 euro)