ZAGREB, 26 Aug 2021 - The volume of construction work carried out in Croatia in June 2021 rose 11.3% compared with June 2020, and it went up 2.1% as against May 2021, according to data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) on Thursday.

June was the 13th consecutive month to see the rise in the volume of construction work on an annual level.

Year on year, the volume of construction work to buildings increased by 11.6% and the volume of construction work to other structures grew by 10.8%.

Month on month, the volume of construction work to buildings rose by 3.4%, while the volume of construction work to other structures increased by two percent.

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ZAGREB, 21 July, 2021 - The volume of construction work carried out in Croatia in May 2021 rose 15.9% compared with May 2020, and it fell by 0.1% compared with April 2021, according to data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) on Wednesday.

May was the 12th consecutive month to see the rise in the volume of construction work on an annual level.

Year on year, the volume of construction work to buildings increased by 18% and the volume of construction work to other structures grew by 13%. Month on month, the volume of construction work to buildings fell by 0.3%, while the volume of construction work to other structures decreased by 0.9%.

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ZAGREB, 13 July, 2021 - In May 2021, 835 building permits were issued, which was 9% more than in May 2020, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

By types of constructions, 82.6% of the permits were issued for buildings and 17.4% for civil engineering works, up by 9.3% and 7.4% on the year respectively.

The permits issued in May 2021 envisaged almost HRK 3 billion worth of construction works, up by 12.7% on the year.

Based on the types of construction works, 75.8% of the permits were issued for new constructions and 24.2% for reconstructions.

The permits issued in May 2021 envisage the construction of 1,583 flats.

In the first five months of 2021, 4,931 building permits were issued, up 21.3% on the year, envisaging HRK 12.64 billion worth of construction works, up 21.1% from January-May 2020.

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ZAGREB, 26 May, 2021 - The volume of construction work in March 2021 was 16% higher than in March 2020, while compared to the previous month, it dropped by 0.4%, show preliminary data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

March was the tenth consecutive month with a year-on-year increase in the volume of construction work.

The volume of construction work on buildings in March this year was 16.5% up from March 2020 while the volume of work on other structures rose 15.3%.

Compared to February 2021, construction work on buildings in March was up 0.5% and on other structures it was 3.9% higher.

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March 29, 2021 - From Metković to Dubrovnik, 47 kilometers of full-profile motorways and another 14.7 km of connecting roads will be built. The works' estimated value is 9.1 billion kunas or 1.2 billion euros, Večernji List writes on Monday. 

This makes this section the most expensive highway in Croatia - a kilometer will cost about 26 million euros, or about 193 million kunas, according to Večernji List. The construction should be completed by 2029.

HAC explains that after obtaining the location permit, contracting the development of the main and detailed projects and obtaining the construction permits will follow. The planned start of construction is 2024, and the works should be completed by 2029.

The highway project from Metković to Dubrovnik is divided into two sections. The first section is the Metković - Pelješac - Duboka junction, about 22 km long, which includes the construction of 17.5 kilometers of motorways from Metković to the Pelješac junction and 4.45 km of highway from the Pelješac to the Duboka junction.

The second section goes from the Rudine junction to the Osojnik junction, and it includes the expressway from the Ston junction to the Doli junction (5.5 km) and the connecting road Slano junction to DC8 (4.7 km). The motorway section from the Rudine junction to the Osojnik junction is 29.5 kilometers long, and it includes the construction of the connection of the Rudine junction to the existing road network.

These two sections of the motorway will continue on the access expressways on Pelješac and the Pelješac Bridge.

The highway construction from Metković to Dubrovnik will be the most expensive so far due to the numerous facilities on it and access roads and junctions. According to the project task, which is part of the tender documentation, on the route of the first section, which is 17.5 kilometers long on the left side of the highway, there are as many as 12,850 meters of facilities, which is 73 percent of the total length of the route. On the right side of that section is 67 percent of the total route length.

On the second section, 27.5 km long, there are 13,575 meters of facilities on the left side, which is 49 percent of the route's total length. On the right side, the total length of facilities is 14,345 meters, 52 percent of the total route length, reports Večernji list.

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ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - The value of construction work done by companies with at least 20 employees in 2020 rose by 6.8% from 2019, while at the same time the value of new orders fell by 6.9%, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) said on Friday. 

The value of construction work done last year was HRK 27.1 billion, of which HRK 19.1 billion worth of work was performed by companies' own workers and HRK 8 billion worth by subcontractors. The value of new orders was HRK 21.4 billion.

The structure of the work carried out by own workers shows that 30.8% of the work done related to non-residential buildings, 34% to transport infrastructure, 17% to pipelines, communication and energy lines, and 15% to residential buildings.

In the last quarter of 2020, the value of construction work was 3.7% higher than in the same period in 2019, while the value of new orders fell by 19.5%. The value of the work done in Q4 2020 totalled HRK 7.42 billion, of which HRK 5.24 billion accounted for the work done by own workers and HRK 2.17 billion for the work performed by subcontractors.

The value of new orders in the fourth quarter of last year was HRK 5.38 billion, of which HRK 2.47 billion accounted for buildings and HRK 2.84 billion for other structures.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

ZAGREB, August 27, 2020 - In June 2020, after three months of decline, the volume of construction work in Croatia grew by 8.5% on the year, according to the preliminary data of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) released on Thursday.

The increase in the volume of construction work is the result of economic lockdown measures being lifted.

The measures were put in place on March 19 to curb the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic and immediately caused the first decline in the volume of construction work since February 2018. The decline continued in April and May.

After a substantial increase at the start of the year (by 8% in January and by 11.9% in February), there was a decline in the volume of construction work by 0.9% on the year in March, by 4.7% in April and by 2.2% in May.

In June 2020 works on buildings went up by 9% compared to June 2019, while civil engineering works grew by 8%, according to the working-day adjusted data. Civil engineering works include the construction of roads, railways, pipelines, bridges etc.

The volume of construction work rose by 10.5% on the month, with the works on buildings increasing by 12.2% and engineering works by 6.6%.

The volume of construction work saw a mild growth of 0.3% in Q2 compared to the same period last year.

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As Morski writes on the 14th of June, 2020, Brodosplit has made a contract with the Greek company Avax for the construction of a steel structure for the Ston bridge and the Prapratno viaduct, facilities on the Ston bypass route, which is part of the project of connecting the extreme south of Croatia and the access roads to the long awaited Peljesac Bridge.

This is the first big job for one of the Croatian companies in the entire road connection project of the south of Croatia with the rest of the country, a project worth three billion kuna. The value of the contract with Avax hasn't yet been disclosed by Brodosplit, but a large number of its employees, as many of 200 of them, will be engaged in doing that job, according to a report from Vecernji list.

Thus, the Split-based company stated that in addition to the construction of the steel structure for the Ston bridge and the Prapratno viaduct, they also contracted transport to the construction site, installation, joining and anti-corrosion protection.

The works that will be undertaken by Brodosplit employees involves a massive 2580 tonnes of steel construction, and as stated, around 200 workers from the aforementioned shipyard will be engaged in that work - they say from Brodosplit. Avax will construct the Ston bypass, ie the sub-sections Sparagovici - Prapratno and Prapratno - Doli, with a total length of eighteen kilometres, and the contracted value of the works stands at an enormous 511.5 million kuna (excluding VAT).

The construction of the Ston bridge will be a very demanding construction project because there will be tunnels on both sides of the bridge. The Ston bridge will be 485 metres long, on one side there will be the Polakovica tunnel, which is 1242 metres long, and on the other side, the Supava tunnel, which is 1290 metres long. The Prapratno viaduct, at the ninth kilometre of this particular section, will be 223 metres long. Avax was introduced to the construction of the Sparagovici - Doli section back in early December last year, but serious work hasn't yet begun, partly due to the coronavirus crisis.

From Croatian roads (Hrvatske ceste), however, they expect that these works will be completed within the previously agreed period of 28 months. In addition to the work on the access roads, Brodosplit could also get another ''slice of the cake'' in terms of being engaged in the works on Peljecac Bridge, and this is something that is currently being negotiated with the Chinese contractor China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).

Namely, due to the coronavirus crisis, specialised workers, such as welders and fitters of the steel load-bearing structure of the bridge - can't come to Peljesac Bridge's construction site from China. The first 29 of a total of 165 steel structure segments from China arrived at the construction site back in late February this year. There has been no desire expressed by Brodosplit in terms of wanting to talk about putting their welders to work on Peljesac Bridge as there have been no negotiations with the CRBC on the matter yet.

"Given that negotiations on our engagement and cooperation are still ongoing, it wouldn't be in accordance with good business practice to go public with the details of those negotiations," a statement from Brodosplit said. The CRBC said that currently, Chinese welders, are already working on the construction site.

"Now we're trying in all possible ways to get various workers to the construction site from China as soon as possible" they claimed from the CRBC, adding that they will perform all the work in accordance with the contract.

However, they noted that, given the significant impact the coronavirus pandemic has had and continues to have on the project, they, as the contractor, together with the client and the supervising engineers, will assess this impact and try to find a solution.

To briefly recall, the CRBC contracted the construction of Peljesac Bridge for an enormous price tag of 2.08 billion kuna, and it should be completed by July the 31st, 2021. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese announced a possible delay in terms of those deadlines, but they failed to state just how long it could be instead.

Croatian roads still believe that it's still possible for the bridge to be completed within the agreed deadline. Works on the second part of the access roads are being performed by Strabag. These works worth 478.3 million kuna (excluding VAT) should be completed within 33 months from the date of the introduction of the contractor to the works, and that took place back in mid-November last year.

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