ZAGREB, May 26, 2020 - A grant agreement was signed in Dubrovnik on Tuesday for the reconstruction and extension of the Lapad waterfront in Dubrovnik worth HRK 70 million, for the second, third and fourth phases of construction.

Attending the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic underscored that the project is essential for Dubrovnik's development and that it fits into the government's policy and partnership with local authorities.

"During the meeting on the occasion of the Feast Day of St. Blaise in 2019, we adopted a set of important items for development projects in the city with a total value of HRK 4.5 billion. Of the HRK 5.8 billion in funds agreed to from EU fund, HRK 5.6 billion was agreed to during our term in government," he recalled.

He noted that measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, the Employment Agency received more than 4,119 applications for wage subsidies and so far HRK 90 million has been paid in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county.

"Thus, we secured jobs to be kept in Croatia's south. In addition, through fiscal decentralization, revenues generated by municipalities in this county increased by 33.28%, revenues for cities increased by 48.79% and the county's income increased by 30.17%," said Plenkovic.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butkovic underscored that in the past four years the government had invested HRK 6.7 billion for transport projects in Croatia's south, from the Peljesac Bridge and Dubrovnik airport to the Ploce port and other important port projects.

Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic said that this is the largest infrastructure project in the city center in the past 42 years. A two-lane modern road will divert congestion for Lapad and Babin Kuk and we will get a new promenade and additional content for citizens and visitors," underlined Frankovic.

One of the richest people in the Balkans is putting his money where his mouth is in Dubrovnik's picturesque Lapad area, known for its beach, Cave Bar More, and numerous hotels. Tihomir Brajković is kicking off his investment in Dubrovnik with the construction of six luxury villas in this location in the Pearl of the Adriatic.

As Novac/Anton Hauswitschka writes on the 9th of March, 2019, Tihomir Brajković, a well known businessman from Kiseljak, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and one of the richest people in the Balkans, is busy going to work constructing six brand new luxury villas in Babin kuk (Lapad) just above Hotel More. The removal of trees and other rubble has already begun, and excavation work could be next, according to a report from dubrovački.hr.

Brajković, or more specifically his very appropriately named Dubrovnik-based company ''Six Luxury Villas d.o.o.'', is the owner of some very attractive land located along Ulica Kardinala Stepinca (Cardinal Stepinac street) right next to some residential buildings.

Unconfirmed news from Dubrovnik's city administration claims that Brajković has indeed started with the preparation of a land parcel according to the current general urban plan in the construction zone, and it is soon expected that the investor will request the necessary building permits to continue. This procedure, as they say, may take up to a year, but as long as the current spatial plans are properly in place, there is no reason that all of the necessary documentation won't be able to be obtained.

The very few who have seen the conceptual design say that they are buildings that will give their future owners the ultimate sense of total luxury and that their architectural bases remind them of the buildings across on the other side of town in the Eastern location of Sveti Jakov. Novac tried to find out directly from the Kiseljak entrepreneur what will exactly happen when he starts building in Dubrovnik, but contact with him from Dubrovnik failed.

Brajkovic founded the company ''Six Luxury Villas'', based on Vukovarska Ulica (Vukovar street), in the former DTS building, back in 2015. More specifically, the company's founder is his Swiss company PET engineering AG, which is led, at least according to the Swiss register, by Josip Šubašić, while Brajković himself is the director of the Dubrovnik-based company.

It's worth recalling the fact that Tihomir Brajković is the owner of Tibra Pacific and Meso-Impex, and has made his fortune in the construction sector, more precisely in terms of housing construction. In Sarajevo, in the Stup area in August last year, Brajković started building a business-residential complex which consisted of three buildings, while at the same time the media in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina incessantly ran negative stories on his Meso-Impex company, which allegedly owes the state more than 9 million convertible marks.

Brajković also become better known to the Croatian public when he planned to build a residential building in Makarska back in 2015 with its own state-owned observatory and astro park incorporated into it.

Although Forbes recently listed him on its enviable list of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the region, Tihomir Brajković himself is a man who seems to consciously avoid the media and other forms of publicity. An individual picture of him is impossible to find, he isn't inclined to making media statements, nor is he inclined to accepting other types of interviews. In recent years however, he has quietly invested heavily in numerous projects and investments and even managed to negotiate the construction of a hydro power plant on the river Bosna with authorities in Zavidovići.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for more on doing business in Croatia, investing in Croatia, and the overall business and investment climate within the country.

Click here for the original article by Anton Hauswitschka for Novac/Jutarnji

The state just can't seem to get rid of Hoteli Maestral...

The Lapad area is getting a new community center in the near future

Spring is here, and so is another flower fair...