IPARD is the 5th component of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance which is a preaccession program of the European Union established in 2007. The Agriculture and Rural Development Plan - IPARD Programme 2007-2013 defines the following three priorities for utilization of the component funds: 1. Improving market efficiency and implementation of Community standards 2. Preparatory actions for implementation of the agri-environmental measures and local rural development strategies 3. Development of rural economy The implementation of IPARD Programme started in 2010 but an in-depth analysis of its utilisation is still missing. Official annual reports on the implementation are available at the managing authority web site, but for better insight additional research is needed. Main goal of this research is to assess the level of success of the IPAR Programme implementation for the period 2010-2013 by taking into consideration available measures, geographical distribution, size and type of beneficiaries. In addition, available data was used to determine the most important obstacles in the programme implementation. This research is based mainly on the Annual Report on Implementation of the IPARD Programme in the Republic of Croatia from 2010 to 2014 approved by the IPARD Monitoring Committee and EC. Other sources of information are obtained from the Paying Agency for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development (PAAFRD), and from available published materials. In addition, the author’s private information base and experience in project management consulting work gathered since 2011 is used. It is considered that this thesis contributes to base knowledge about IPARD Programme and about EU funds available in Croatia and candidate countries in general. The results can also help to improve implementation of similar programmes in future since it indicates main problems affecting the absorption of the programme funds. This work can be also used in connection with utilisation of the EAFRD which started in Croatia in 2015.