Thirty vulnerable refugee families from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia with a residence in the territory of Subotica were awarded housing agreements for the purchase of village houses within the fifth subproject of the Regional Housing Program.

Funds in the amount of 330 thousand euros for the purchase of 30 village houses are provided from the Donor Fund of the Regional Housing Program through the Council of Europe Development Bank. Each family receives 11,000 euros - 9,500 for purchase and 1,500 euros for the reconstruction.

Commissioner for Refugees and Migration Vladimir Cucić emphasized that the program has several advantages:

"First of all, the program is about grants, it is not a loan, and it will not pose any costs on the state, while those who receive it will not need to return anything."

The Commissioner also stated that there is no municipality in Vojvodina which is not included in the process, either by the funds of the Regional Housing Program or by the funds from the budget.

"Since 2008, we have been allocating eight housing solutions each day. It is practically the largest residential construction site in the country and it functions in synergy with more than 140 local governments," said Vladimir Cucić.

The beneficiaries were also addressed by the Mayor of Subotica Bogdan Laban, State Secretary of the Ministry of State Administration and Local Government Bojan Stevic, Director of the Fund for Assisting Refugees, Expelled and Displaced Persons, Dusko Cutilo and senior officials of international institutions, Sam Healy, Regional Refugee Coordinator at the US Embassy, Joseph Mellott, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission in Serbia and Andrei Kazakov, Senior Field Coordinator, UNHCR Representation in Serbia.