May 24, 2023 - Croatian deputy prime minister, Branko Bačić, visited the Banovina reconstruction sites on Tuesday, specifically the landslide in the Petrinja area. He said that in Sisak-Moslavina County, 110 percent of the planned 319 million euros for the reconstruction of buildings was used 50 days before the deadline.

"We are particularly pleased with the implementation of very important projects for Petrinja and the county. All reconstruction projects financed from the Solidarity Fund in Sisak-Moslavina County are progressing well. This applies equally to public and private facilities. By the end of the summer, we will take care of all our fellow citizens in container settlements and speed up the reconstruction of private houses," Bačić said, as reported by Index.

"We will warn contractors about missed deadlines"

He added that in Petrinja, in the container settlements, there are about sixty users living in containers, half of whom do not have the right to rebuild. Eight residential buildings under construction in Petrinja will be used for their accommodation, while the procurement of mobile low-energy wooden houses is underway.

Bačić mentioned that the Ministry is not satisfied with the dynamics of the works of some contractors taking part in the Banovina reconstruction, with whom a meeting will be held on Thursday to warn them of their deadlines.

In the past six weeks, 14 public tenders, with 141 construction sites, had to be canceled. This is why there is a great demand for construction workers, and if they aren't found in the country, contractors from abroad will have to be hired.

Visits to two landslides near Petrinja

Before the tour of the construction site, a meeting was held in Petrinja in the presence of the prefect Ivan Celjak and the mayor of Petrinja, Magdalena Komes, on the dynamics of the continuation of the reconstruction in the area of Petrinja. On this occasion, the structural renovation of 42 buildings was entrusted to the City to speed up the process.

Mayor Komes reminded that, in addition to the obligation to structurally restore buildings in the city's center, the City undertook to remove part of the auxiliary buildings not intended for renovation. Minister Bačić visited the construction site of the complete renovation of the former Munjara in Petrinja. This Art Nouveau private building that once housed its administration, but is now under protection.

He also visited two landslides being rehabilitated near Petrinja with a total value of 255,000 euros. He spoke with the users of the container settlement in Mošćenica, and in Sunja, he also visited the just-completed replacement family house, measuring 55 square meters.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

August the 14th, 2022 - If you need to get a new Croatian passport of ID card over the coming days in the City of Zagreb, then there's something you need to do before you head to the dreaded desks and the friendly and knowledgeable clerks at your local administrative police station.

We've all had the masochistic pleasure of waiting for hours clutching a number that isn't due to come up on the screen we're all staring at for an age in an airless room listening to people being repeatedly told they're missing a document. MUP is a special place where people lose time they'll never get back to people who could really do with a lot more training, all for something that could very easily be done online. Make sure to read this before heading to administrative police stations in Zagreb for a new Croatian passport or ID card.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, if you want to get a new identity card or Croatian passport over the coming hot summer days in the City of Zagreb, then there are several important things you should know. The locations for issuing and picking up personal documents such as the above are Heinzelova 98, Petrinjska 30, II. PP Zagreb (Crnomerec) and VI. PP Zagreb (Novi/New Zagreb).

The counters at which this procedure is carried out have summer working hours from 07:00 to 14:00, and you can now go and pick up your new Croatian passport or freshly issued ID card on Saturdays as well.

The administrative police station (MUP) at Crnomerec is typically very crowded, so the waiting times to pick up or apply for new documents can stretch to several hours, which isn't anything new to anyone who has spent any time doing anything administrative in Croatia.

The classic advice continues to be the same as it always has been - come as early as possible to avoid waiting around for too long (although if we're being honest, that is no guarantee as everyone has the exact same idea), but more importantly, if you are getting a new Croatian passport or identity card, it is important that before you come to the counter, you have confirmation that you have already paid the production costs. In other words, you should make the payment before you come to the clerk at the desk.

The payment slips are at the entrance to the building, while the information for online payment can be found here for a new Croatian passport and here for a new ID card.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 18 July 2022 - The first group of 42 students from Petrinja Secondary School and the Sisak School of Economics, and three travelling companions left on Monday for a summer camp in Hungary.

The secondary school students will spend eight days on their summer holiday in Hungary.

This is a result of good cooperation between Sisak-Moslavina County and the Hungarian government, which made it possible for about a hundred secondary school students to attend a summer camp in two groups, on 18-25 July and on 25-31 July.

The students will be accommodated in a hotel with a swimming pool, near Lake Velence, and Hungarian hosts will provide them with a variety of cultural activities and entertainment. The programme includes a trip to Pécs, where they will visit the Croatian House and go sightseeing, a trip to Tihany, where they will visit the Benedictine monastery and the Visitors' Centre, and a trip to Székesfehérvár, where they will visit the Bory Castle, the St. Stephen Museum, and other sights.

The second group of students, who are to visit Hungary on 25-31 July, includes students from Sisak Technical School, Sisak Gymnasium, Sisak Industrial and Crafts School, Viktorovac Secondary School, Sisak Vocational School, Ivan Trnski Secondary School in Hrvatska Kostajnica and Topusko Secondary School.

Sisak-Moslavina County Prefect Ivan Celjak was pleased that secondary school students had the opportunity to go on a free summer holiday, just like primary school students who are currently on holiday in Split.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 12 March 2022 - Post-earthquake reconstruction in Banovina has not stopped even once, 29 family houses are being built and next week the contractors for ten blocks of flats will be known, the head of the task force dealing with the aftermath of the 2020 earthquake, Tomo Medved, said in Petrinja on Saturday.

"At no moment has the reconstruction process been stopped or brought into question, despite all the circumstances cased by Russia's aggression on Ukraine," he told the press after a task force meeting which was attended for the first time by the new Construction Minister Ivan Paladina.

Medved said he was confident that reconstruction would intensify following Paladina's appointment and that citizens "waiting to return to their homes will be satisfied."

Paladina said he was detecting the obstacles to reconstruction and that they were being dealt with. Construction has begun on ten replacement houses and soon there will be 30, he added.

Sisak-Moslavina County prefect Ivan Celjak said the county had submitted 68 projects worth HRK 700 million to the Solidarity Fund, with 52 projects for the construction of 40 houses, 12 roads, 20 medical facilities, 11 schools and nine cultural facilities.

Asked by the press if a possible investigation into his previous activities was an aggravating circumstance, Paladina said he was focused on the work ahead.

Reporters asked Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milošević if he had become a burden to the post-earthquake reconstruction process due to a possible investigation into incentive allocations.

He said it was not a pleasant situation but that, as a public figure, he must be ready to deal with such a burden and that he would continue to contribute to the reconstruction process.

December 21, 2021 - As a solidarity effort towards the town that was hit hard by an earthquake almost a year ago, Telemach donates 100,000 kuna to a Petrinja kindergarten. The donation will be aimed at equipping the expanded accommodation capacities within its extended part and creating conditions for quality educational work.

In anticipation of the holidays, Telemach continues to help earthquake-stricken Petrinja with the intention of contributing to creating conditions for its youngest residents, reports Net.hr. Although the Petrinjčica Kindergarten suffered significant damage in the earthquake, it was successfully repaired with the help of donors by the beginning of the current pedagogical year, but despite this, a large number of unregistered children remained in regular enrollment due to lack of accommodation. Therefore, the donation in the amount of 100,000 kuna will be directed to equipping the newly built space for an additional five educational groups.

"Faced with the problem of insufficient accommodation capacities, we decided to go for a modular upgrade of the central kindergarten building, which will provide places for all unregistered children. In the current pedagogical year, there were as many as 49 of them who meet all the conditions for enrollment, and since every unregistered child means the potential departure of the whole family from Petrinja, we wanted to avoid such a scenario at all costs. I thank Telemach, to whom this is not the first donation directed to our city, and which we will use for the benefit of our youngest fellow citizens," said the Mayor of Petrinja Magdalena Komes.

Commenting on the current needs related to the upgrade of the central city kindergarten, the director of DV Petrinjčica, Nataša Vidović, reminded that financial resources for upgrading and equipping the kindergarten are provided exclusively through donations, which is why any help is welcome.

"Telemach's donation will be aimed at purchasing didactic equipment and furniture to equip the space under construction for five additional educational groups, so I thank Telemach whose financial support will greatly contribute to creating conditions for a quality educational process and enable our children to grow up happier.", pointed out the director Vidović.

The donation of DV Petrinjčica is a continuation of the activities with which Telemach supports the earthquake-damaged Petrinja. Thus, after the donation of two drones to the Petrinja Public Fire Brigade in December 2020, Telemach continues this year to invest in projects aimed at the well-being of children and youth and will soon raise a balloon inside which will be a large sports hall. 

"The recovery of the earthquake-stricken Petrinja is a long-term process that requires the continued support of the wider community in order to provide adequate conditions that will enable citizens of all ages to meet key living needs. In order to help rebuild the city and keep its inhabitants, especially families with children, we directed part of the funds to create the necessary conditions for the youngest Petrinja in the form of equipping the central kindergarten, while the new sports hall we will soon open to the city. but also the holding of numerous sports, cultural and social events.", concluded the director of communications of Telemach Croatia, Sonja Miočić, reminding that the citizens of Petrinja have not had a sports hall for a full year, without which they were left in last year's earthquake.

For more, check out our business section.

ZAGREB, 14 Dec 2021 - An earthquake measuring 3.0 on the Richter scale jolted Donja Budičina, 5 km southeast of Petrinja, at 10.18 pm on Monday, Croatia's Seismological Service said.

The Petrinja area in central Croatia was hit by two devastating earthquakes at the end of 2020.

For more news about Croatia, click here.

September 30, 2021 -The New Life Centre is a Petrinja container business centre offering locals the chance to go back to their businesses as the town still awaits the completion of its post-earthquake reconstruction.

The container settlements of Petrinja, the aftermath of the December 29 earthquake, are certainly not a cheery place to live as the locals await the reconstruction of their Central Croatian town to be completed.

The reconstruction process isn't over just yet, but the spark of hope for a new, better life after a tough year can be seen with the opening of the New Life Centre.

''The New Life Centre is a cluster of new, painted containers that have been stacked for months in Petrinja's neighbourhood of Sajmište,'' as described by Miroslav Šantek, the author for the local website PS-Portal. The first traders, workers, and craftsmen have already settled in, happy for a taste of near normality.

PS-Portal states that this idea was suggested by the Voice of Entrepreneurs Association (Udruga Glas Poduzetnika) to the then-mayor of Petrinja, Darinko Dumbovic.

''The idea was accepted, and then work on the infrastructure began. But, in typical Croatian fashion, there are always setbacks. The obvious lack of money slowed down the progress. Then came new town administration and new mayor Magdalena Komes who cooperated with the Croatian Government and got 30 million kuna to continue the construction of the centre,'' explained PS-Portal.

The deadlines, however, have been breached and it is uncertain when the Petrinja container business centre will actually be finished.

Nonetheless, business owners who could no longer wait for the complete conclusion of construction set up their businesses and started to work as the state aid dried out, and they wanted to go back to making a living for their families.

As PS-Portal continues, yesterday's opening morning was cold, but there was joy on that small square of container settlements. Citizens of Petrinja can now enjoy the offer of a big international cosmetic chain, but also smaller shops, a pizzeria, and grill diners run by local entrepreneurs.

Despite the lack of a grand opening due to ongoing construction works, Mayor Komes still visited and talked to entrepreneurs who started their businesses. She explained that the increase of construction material and the lack of construction workers are the reason for delays in the Petrinja container business centre's completion.

''Numerous Petrinja-based entrepreneurs lost their space to work after the earthquake. They worked in containers or in the few rental spaces one could find in the almost destroyed town. This modular centre is designed as a space for everyone who has lost theirs,'' writes Glas Istre.

The December earthquake in Petrinja, as well as the March earthquake in Zagreb, caused lots of problems for the residents of these areas. As TCN previously wrote, after a whole year of slow reconstruction progress, Croatian PM Andrej Plenković promised to speed up the reconstruction processes in September. Back in July, several education institutions got financial support for reconstruction, while museums, such as the School Museum in Zagreb, still awaits help.

The dreadful experience of the earthquake in Sisak, Zagreb, and Petrinja also woke up Croatian artists, such as Miroslav Arbutina Arba. You can see his photos of the Sisak earthquake in the Zagreb Contemporary Art Museum exhibition until October 10.

Not too far from Petrinja is Lonjsko Polje Nature Park, and you can learn more about it in our TC guide. 

For more about entrepreneurs in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 24 Sept 2021 - An earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale was recorded in the Sisak area at 2239 hours on Thursday, Croatia's Seismological Survey said.

This was the fifth quake in Croatia in the past 41 hours, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.

The epicentre was near Čuntić, 8 km south of Petrinja, which was struck by a magnitude 6.2 quake on 29 December.

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ZAGREB, 30 Aug 2021 - President Zoran Milanović said on Monday that the post-earthquake reconstruction process was too slow, warning that if it continued at the current pace, Croatia would lose Petrinja.

"Nothing is happening, unfortunately the process is too slow and if it continues at the current pace, we will lose Petrinja," Milanović said in reference to the town in Sisak-Moslavina County, hit hardest by the 29 December 2020 earthquake.

Asked about the pace of reconstruction, he said: "It is never easy and cannot be easy due to property-rights relations, but if you want something, you remove some barriers, possibly making some minor mistake or damage in the process that you later rectify."

"Croatia today would not have highways that were built, designed and financed in two years if we had dealt with every single private property separately, it would have taken us 300 years had we done so," he added.

He added that Petrinja and Glina, another town that suffered extensive damage in the earthquake, should not be "a tall order" and that adopting a new reconstruction law should be easy.

One or several key persons should be entrusted with the reconstruction process and be given financial powers, Milanović said, drawing a parallel with the process of reconstruction following the 2014 floods in the area of Gunja, which he said had been rebuilt in a few months and was of a similar size as Glina.

"As regards the region of Banija, some things require prompt solutions, there is no need for legal nitpicking over very single piece of property... one should take excavators and make order in Petrinja, there will be people who will file lawsuits but that will be dealt with in the process, otherwise we will lose the city," said Milanović.

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ZAGREB, 27 Aug 2021 - War Veterans' Affairs Minister Tomo Medved, who heads the task force dealing with the aftermath of last year's earthquakes in Sisak-Moslavina County, said on Friday that priority in the reconstruction process would be given to houses whose owners were now accommodated in prefab containers.

So far, roughly 400 family houses have been rebuilt, next week over 1,500 contracts will be signed with property owners for the reconstruction of their family houses. By 15 September, we will have about 6,000 active contracts on reconstruction, Medved said in Sisak.

He said that priority would be given to the reconstruction of properties whose owners had been relocated to container settlements so that they could move in their rebuilt homes before the winter.

Medved said that the authorities also planned the reconstruction of other damaged structures and construction of a number of apartment buildings in the quake-hit area.

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