ZAGREB, 29 Oct 2021 - The Croatian parliament amended the Reconstruction Act on Friday, paving the way for simplifying and speeding up the post-earthquake reconstruction of Zagreb and surrounding counties and removing the bottlenecks that have emerged in the reconstruction process.

The amendments were passed by 76 votes in favour, 7 against and 35 abstentions.

As a result, citizens will no longer be required to cover 20% of the cost of structural reconstruction. In Zagreb, the government will cover 80% of the cost and the City 20%, while in the Banovina region, the cost will be fully covered by the government.

It will no longer be necessary to establish property rights which have until now hampered the reconstruction process, and the ban on disposal of rebuilt property and the obligation to register a lien on the property were revoked.

Public procurement procedures will be accelerated and rules will be adopted on the procurement of goods, services and works whose estimated value is lower than EU limits.

It will be easier to demolish buildings and build new apartment buildings.

Owners of damaged blocks of flats, commercial buildings and family homes will be allowed to perform structural reconstruction work on their own while adhering to the law regulating physical planning and construction. They will then be compensated for the eligible costs of the reconstruction.

Owners will also be able to conduct retrofitting above the level of technical regulations as well as integral reconstruction and then claim financial compensation for eligible costs.

All land title applications for properties damaged in the earthquakes will be processed on fast track.

Opposition: Some solutions are good, some problems remain 

The opposition said that some improvements have been made, that some problems remain.

The dispute between the Construction Ministry and the Reconstruction Fund, namely between  Minister Darko Horvat and Damir Vanđelić, is continuing and it is directly delaying reconstruction, said Peđa Grbin (SDP).

The limits for public procurement have been raised while finance for public buildings has been abolished, which is alarming, added Grbin.

MP Sandra Benčić (Green-Left Bloc) admitted that the amendments added some improvements, but questioned the fact that local government was not allowed to finance reconstruction by taking loans and there were no incentives for self-reconstruction. The greatest risk remains in the area of public procurement, she said.

MP Marija Selak Raspudić (Bridge), said that earthquake damage is estimated at HRK 128 billion, yet only three percent of applications have been resolved.

The Sabor did not uphold a conclusion by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) group which would oblige the government to report to the Sabor every six months on the effects of the post-earthquake reconstruction law.

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ZAGREB, 1 February, 2021 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) vice-president Siniša Hajdaš Dončić said on Monday that amendments to the law on post-earthquake reconstruction would be adopted this week, noting that nothing important had been missed with their non-adoption due to a lack of quorum last Friday.

"The amended law should be adopted this week and what happened was a normal parliamentary fight between political parties," the SDP MP said in a Croatian Radio programme.

The Opposition broke the quorum on Friday, postponing a vote on the items that had been discussed after the parliament speaker refused to put on the agenda a previously discussed motion by the opposition Bridge party calling for the mandatory membership fee for the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) to be abolished to ease the burden on entrepreneurs.

Hajdaš Dončić said the non-adoption of the law did not change anything significantly.

It makes no difference if law is adopted today or in three days

"We were not showing our teeth, this happened exclusively because an item was not put on the agenda. It makes no difference if a law is adopted today or in three days," he said.

MP Ivan Celjak of the ruling HDZ party said in the same programme that the amended law on post-earthquake reconstruction would be adopted this week.

In a comment on Hajdaš Dončić's statements, he said that it had transpired again that the SDP did not care about the wellbeing of the people in the earthquake-hit areas. 

HDZ MP: Opposition took advantage of late MP Tuđman's illness

"The Opposition took advantage of the fact that the late MP Miroslav Tuđman was gravely ill at that moment, they walked out of parliament and prevented the adoption of the law, which is very important for all residents of the disaster-hit area," said Celjak.

He added that one could have waited with the law on the HGK but not with the law on post-earthquake reconstruction.

The reactions of people in the earthquake-hit area to the Opposition's move are very negative, said Celjak, who comes from Sisak.

Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milošević said on Sunday that parliament was expected to put amendments to the post-earthquake reconstruction law to the vote on Thursday, that the parliamentary majority was not in question as well as that he expected a consensus on the matter.

Amendments to the law on the post-earthquake reconstruction of the City of Zagreb and Zagreb and Krapina-Zagorje counties after the 22 March 2020 earthquake envisage expanding the law to also apply to Sisak-Moslavina County and parts of Karlovac and Zagreb counties hit by a devastating earthquake on 29 December 2020.

ZAGREB, 30 January, 2021 - SDP leader Peđa Grbin said on Saturday that the HDZ, the prime minister and the parliament speaker were responsible for the non-adoption of amendments to the law on post-earthquake reconstruction, noting that the Opposition's quorum-breaking on Friday was not politicking but politics.

Amendments to the law on post-earthquake reconstruction were not passed because of two people, Andrej Plenković and Gordan Jandroković, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) told reporters during a visit to the eastern town of Beli Manastir, where he presented the party's candidate for mayor.

The Opposition on Friday broke the quorum ahead of voting in parliament after a vote on the opposition Bridge party's motion to abolish the mandatory membership fee in the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) was taken off the agenda. Seventy-five MPs remained in the parliament, one fewer than necessary for a quorum and vote. The HDZ-led parliamentary majority lacked the vote of MP Miroslav Tuđman who has been hospitalised due to COVID-19 so he could not vote online either, which then prevented the adoption of the law on post-earthquake reconstruction, the declaration of an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic and some other items.

Grbin said today that on 30 December he had personally requested an emergency parliament session but that "the HDZ did not find it necessary", after which on 4 January amendments to the post-earthquake reconstruction law were submitted and were discussed on 20 January.

"(The ruling majority) again did not rush to put them to the vote, yet yesterday, without trying to consult with us on how to reach agreement and have the law adopted, they decided to postpone the vote," Grbin said, adding that the vote was postponed by Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković.

This is not politicking, this is politics

Grbin went on to say that the Opposition had only wanted all motions, including the Opposition's, to be put to the vote, including one on the cancellation of the mandatory membership fee in the HGK as a form of direct assistance to entrepreneurs.

"Responsibility for the adoption or non-adoption of a document rests not with the Opposition but exclusively with the HDZ, Andrej Plenković and Gordan Jandroković," Grbin said, adding that the HDZ's hiding behind an ill man fighting for his life was disgusting.

"We are willing, if Jandroković invites us, to go to the parliament, even today, and vote on what has to be voted on, but then all items must be put to the vote, including those on assistance to business people and citizens facing debt enforcement. They don't have to adopt our bills, but they should at least be put to the vote," he said.

Asked by reporters if this was disregard for earthquake victims and politicking, Grbin said that the attempt to help entrepreneurs by abolishing one parafiscal levy and prevent the blocking of citizens' bank accounts during the pandemic was not politicking but politics.

Sabo cannot activate his term as SDP Presidency member

Asked how his party would deal with the case of Željko Sabo, a former mayor of Vukovar and SDP member who has said that he will reactivate his term as SDP Presidency member, Grbin said that "Sabo cannot reactivate his term."

Sabo's announcement that he will activate his term as SDP Presidency member came after the SDP leadership decided to dissolve the party's organisation in Vukovar.

The leadership's decision was prompted by the Vukovar party branch's decision to support Sabo as the SDP mayoral candidate in May's local elections despite the leadership's recommendation that he should not be nominated for that post as he had been convicted of corruption for trying to bribe a local councillor when he was the mayor.

Apart from having served six months in prison, which enables rehabilitation under the law, Sabo is also facing charges of abuse of office and powers for allegedly embezzling funds intended for summer holidays for Vukovar children.

"In line with an explicit provision of the SDP Statute, Mr Sabo put his term on hold until criminal proceedings against him are completed and as long as those proceedings are underway, he cannot activate his term," said Grbin.

ZAGREB, Aug 7, 2020 - Zagreb City Councillor from the ranks of the Croatian People's Party, Tomislav Stojak, on Friday told a press conference that the law on Zagreb's reconstruction after the March earthquake is taking too long and that citizens are still waiting for quality living conditions four and a half months later.

We have been waiting for months despite all the promises that it would be adopted before the summer, particularly since some political platforms advocated that during electioneering yet are now saying that it is necessary to hear all the arguments and that the law will be adopted in the autumn, underscored Stojak.

He underlined that citizens need to be ensured the same quality of life regardless of where they live, that those areas most affected by the earthquake have to be reconstructed, which would be a long process, but other suburbs need to be developed too.

Stojak assessed that as far as reconstruction is concerned, the state is doing a "relatively good job," however the City of Zagreb is not doing as much considering that its financial situation is not that good.

The city will not have the 20 percent of the funding required for participating in the reconstruction as it does not have any money, Stojak added.

He expects Mayor Milan Bandic and the city authorities to present the city's financial plan at the next meeting scheduled for September.