ZAGREB, October 4, 2019 - A 1.43 billion kuna (€193 million) co-financing agreement for the construction and reconstruction of the municipal water supply infrastructure in the Kastela and Trogir agglomeration was signed in Split on Thursday. The work should be completed by December 2023.

The agreement was signed by Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić, the CEO of the Hrvatske Vode water management company, Zoran Đuroković, and the CEO of Split's "Vodovod i Kanalizacija" company, Tomislav Šuta.

The project provides for the construction and reconstruction of more than 125 kilometres of the water supply network and over 230 kilometres of the public drainage system. After its completion, over 8,600 households will be connected to the public drainage system and over 1,600 households to the public water supply network, Minister Ćorić said.

About 70 percent of the project cost will be co-financed through the EU operational programme "Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014-2020."

Also signed was a 16.1 million kuna (€2.17 million) co-financing agreement for the construction of municipal water supply works in Lećevica, a village in Split-Dalmatia County.

More Trogir news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, August 14, 2019 - The MOST Party's political secretary Nikola Grmoja formally launched in Rijeka on Wednesday the initiative of this Opposition party to collect signatures for its petition that the right to safe drinking water be protected in the Constitution.

Grmoja said that the party would collect signatures of citizens throughout the country in a bid to ensure the protection of "Croatia's great water resources".

The party insists that provision of water supplies to consumers should be conducted by public suppliers now when both in Croatia and abroad, corporations are trying to privatise water resources, said Grmoja.

It is important to make sure that all our citizens and our children in the future have access to safe drinking water, he added.

For the launch of the procedure to amend the Constitution for that purpose, the MOST first needed to collect 31 signatures of MPs for its motion to be tabled in the parliament, and the party has made it.

Furthermore, any change of the Constitution requires the support of two thirds of lawmakers, that is 101 votes in favour of such a proposal.

Grmoja said that also a part of parliamentarians from the ruling majority have shown interest in this topic.

The human right to safe drinking water was first recognised by the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council as part of binding international law in 2010. Recognising access to water and sanitation as human rights reflects the fundamental nature of these basics in every person’s life, says the World Organisation.

More MOST news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 17, 2019 -The parliamentary group of the opposition MOST party on Monday presented its initiative to ensure that the right to safe drinking water be protected in the Constitution.

For the initiating of the procedure to amend the Constitution for that purpose, the MOST first needs to collect 31 signatures of MPs for its motion to be tabled in the parliament. Furthermore, any change of the Constitution requires the support of two thirds of lawmakers, that is 101 votes in favour of such a proposal.

The party leader, Božo Petrov, said today that they would now wait for other parliamentary benches to respond to the MOST-sponsored proposal which includes the constitutional protection of the right to drinking water as well as the constitutional protection of water resources in Croatia.

Robert Podolnjak of the MOST party explained that under the proposal, the Constitution would be amended to include a new article reading that "everybody has the right to clean drinking water." Furthermore water resources would be treated by the Constitution as a public good managed by the state, whereas providing households with drinking water should be conducted as a non-profit utility activity.

The Human Right to Water and Sanitation (HRWS) was recognised as a human right by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 July 2010.

More news about MOST can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 13, 2019 - The Town of Ivanić-Grad on Monday presented water utilities projects to be financed with European Union funds valued at almost 500 million kuna and launched in cooperation with the Hrvatske Vode water management company.

The projects concern the construction of the Zagreb East regional water supply system, development of Ivanić-Grad's agglomeration, establishment of a modular wood-technology business incubator, and revitalisation of the Lonja river, Ivanić-Grad's town authorities said.

Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić underscored that several projects were being implemented in Ivanić-Grad and Zagreb County and that Hrvatske Vode and local government were cooperating well in that regard.

Minister Ćorić commented on media reports about utility companies allegedly considering the possibility of temporarily giving up on water-utility projects financed by the EU.

"Mistakes are possible during different phases in preparing documents, public procurement procedures and works... they aren't deliberate and the European Commission, which co-funds the majority of the projects, covering 85% of acceptable costs, wants these procedures to be conducted without any mistakes... the water-utilities sector, together with us, is trying to find a solution to obtain those funds," said Ćorić.

More news about water management in Croatia can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, September 10, 2018 - Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović, Environmental Protection and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić and Water Management company director Zoran Đuraković signed on Monday an agreement on the supply of new radio and communication equipment for protection and rescue services, worth 37 million kuna, 85% of which will be financed from EU funds and the rest from the state budget.

ZAGREB, September 7, 2018 - The 142nd anniversary of organised water management in Croatia and the national Waters Day were marked at a ceremony held at the Hrvatske Vode water management company on Friday.

ZAGREB, July 20, 2018 - Unhappy about the fact that criminal charges against an unidentified perpetrator for a water pollution accident in Slavonski Brod in March were dropped, Mayor Mirko Duspara on Wednesday told a press conference that the way the investigation into the incident was conducted was contentious because it did not incorporate the entire five kilometre route of the gas pipeline where the tests were conducted.

ZAGREB, May 12, 2018 - Three contracts on investing 4.5 million kuna in the construction of water supply infrastructure in Dubrovnik County and a programme of reducing water losses were signed in Dubrovnik on Friday.

ZAGREB, April 13, 2018 - The Crodux oil company, at a press conference in Zagreb on Friday, dismissed responsibility for water pollution in the eastern town of Slavonski Brod, saying it was not possible that the petrol spill could have reached water wells and water pipes 48 hours after a leak in the oil pipeline.

ZAGREB, April 9, 2018 - The Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), which collects and analyses data on drinking water safety in the whole country, on Monday informed the public that drinking water in the public supply system in Slavonski Brod was again safe for human consumption in that eastern town.