The Šagulje Wast Management Center is the joint project of Brod-Posavina, Požega-Slavonia, and part of Sisak-Moslavina County in Eastern Croatia. 

The proposals for the development of the Segestika-Siscia Archaeological Centre have been presented in Sisak. There are four proposals which have been submitted as part of the public competition announced by the town authorities, and the expert jury decided that the best proposal is the one designed by Sara Jurinčić, Aleksandar Matijašević, Dino Mišković and Tatjana Barišić-Antolić, reports Lokalni.hr on November 17, 2018.

The town authorities announced the public competition for the purpose of obtaining the best possible urban planning and architectural solution for the Segestika-Siscia Archaeological Centre, which will serve as a basis for drafting the project documentation for the reconstruction of the centre building.

“Two years after we bought the building for two million kuna, we have reached the stage that the Ministry of Culture will fund the drafting of the project documentation. We have published a public competition which produced the best solution and it is nice to see that our vision will finally be realized.

In this way, Sisak will get an archaeological heritage interpretation centre like no other in Europe, not only because it will be energy efficient but because it will bring together all the segments, from the research on the site from the presentation of the findings. Across the road from the centre is one of the most important archaeological sites in Croatia.

The archaeological treasures found in Sisak are currently not presented in an appropriate way and this will fix that. The town will get new jobs, experts who will come to our town and explore its archaeological heritage. I am particularly pleased that the winning proposal includes the chimney which will be turned into an observation viewing point. Together with the Ministry of Culture, we will nominate the project for EU funding,” said Sisak Mayor Kristina Ikić Baniček.

The main goal of the winning proposal is to bring the centre closer to the users, said team member Aleksandar Matijašević. “Our goal was not to create a closed building which does not communicate with the surroundings but to create several entry points. The visitors who will come to the centre will be able to see the entire building,” Matijašević said.

The head of the Sisak Conservation Department, Ivana Miletić Čakširan, pointed out that archaeological findings in Sisak deserved such a project, which is unique in that the interpretation will take place on the archaeological site itself.

Parts of Sisak were built directly on the ruins of the Roman Siscia and the prehistoric Segestika, and the archaeological significance and potential are of such a scale and complexity that partial presentations are insufficient in terms of interpretation of the archaeological area.

By interpreting the Segestika-Siscia archaeological area in the industrial buildings of the Segestica factory complex, the project will interpret the remains of the Roman architecture in the archaeological park and create a multifunctional archaeological centre.

For more news on Sisak and the surrounding area, click here.

With the acquisition of numerous shopping centres, is Croatia entering a new European retail market?

As Ana Blaskovic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of November, 2018, the consolidation process continues on the domestic real estate market; with Austria's Immofinanz announcing the takeover of two shopping centers, STC Osijek and STC Valpovo, as part of a larger regional transaction worth about 90.5 million euro.

Immofinanz is also taking over eight ''retail'' parks in Slovenia and Serbia, as well as here in Croatia, totaling about 68,000 square metres. The value of the part of the transaction pertaining to the Republic of Croatia has not yet been published, but the entire package, Croatia's part relates to the smallest surface area of approximately 13,500 square metres, from which the Austrian MID group is leaving, the group is probably best known for its relations with the Garden Mall in Zagreb, which was sold to Supernova earlier.

In addition to Croatia, the MID group handed over three ''retail'' parks in Maribor, Krško and Ptuj in neighbouring Slovenia to Immofinanz, totaling 22,000 square metres. Owing to that, Immofinanz's Slovenian portfolio has risen to 52,300 square metres of rentable surface.

The Serbian retailer is MPC group, founded by Serbian businessman Petar Matić, and according to the latest available data, a third of the company was sold to Atterbury Europe back in 2015. Acquisitions in Serbia include 32,000 square feet of rentable land in Subotica, Borčija, and Smederevo. Stop Shop, Immofinanz's brand of retail parks, will in the future operate in nine locations and across 83,600 square metres.

Among the dealers are very well known names like Deichmann, H&M, C&A, Takko, KiK and Jysk, and the shopping centres will soon undergo rebranding, after which they will operate under Immofinanz's Stop Shop concept.

"These acquisitions reinforce our position as the leading European ''retail'' park operator, and, when speaking about Croatia, this marks our entry into a new European retail market that is extremely interesting to our international leasing companies. Good locations, excellent business, good competitiveness of local situations and classical ones, and a healthy mix of tenants are the main features of these attractive investment opportunities,'' said Dietman Reindl, the executive director of Immofinanz in a statement.

The reporters say that the exit of MID from two more centres (after leaving Zagreb's Garden Mall and centres in Koprivnica and Sisak) is the expected consequence of the pace of the new cycle on the market given the fact that its strength lies in project development, and for it to be the operator.

Click here for more business news from Croatia.

Click here for the original article by Ana Blaskovic on Poslovni Dnevnik

Two years ago, the construction of the Islamic Cultural Centre in Sisak began. After a six-month delay due to bankruptcy of the contractor, the construction has continued and the future religious-cultural centre is now progressing well. When it is finished, and the plan is for that to happen by the end of the next year, it will cover 2,641 square meters and thus replace the present mosque located in a family home, reports Lokalni.hr on November 9, 2018.

“In addition to the mosque, the complex will include a meeting room, a youth club, a restaurant with a children's playroom, classrooms, a library, apartments, guest rooms, office space,” said Alem Crnkić, the imam of Sisak.

The centre will have four levels, and it will have a garden which will also serve the restaurant with traditional Bosnian cuisine. “The complex of the Islamic Cultural Centre in Sisak will be open to everyone,” explained Crnkić, pointing out that many donors of this 50.9 million kuna complex are non-Muslim residents of Sisak.

There are about 2,400 Muslims living in Sisak, with around 4,100 in the whole od Sisak-Moslavina County.

“In order to fund the construction, the women of the Islamic Community of Sisak have prepared and published the ‘Halal Cookbook’, whose first edition was sold out in Croatia and Europe, and some of the copies went to other continents as well. The second edition has also been released, and all proceeds are going towards the construction of the centre,” added Imam.

The Sisak Islamic Community will soon issue a book on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Community, founded in 1968, and all the proceeds from the book will also go towards the construction of the Centre. The mosque in Sisak will be the first eco-friendly mosque in this part of Europe. In addition to using the LED lighting system, there will be solar panels on the part of the roof that will produce electricity and cover the needs of the heating system.

For more on Islam in Croatia, click here.

Translated from Lokalni.hr (reported by Danijel Prerad).

Sisak-Moslavina County is investing in bike tourism development.

While Zagreb out-shined its coastal rivals by far, the post-August drop is still steep.

ZAGREB, September 7, 2018 - A group of workers at the Sisak oil refinery said on Friday they had documents showing that the management of the INA oil company were preparing two versions of a plan to terminate production at the plant, with January 1 or May 1, 2019 as the dates for the closure of the refinery.

ZAGREB, August 22, 2018 - The start of construction works on a multi-purpose sports ground on the outskirts of Sisak marks the start of similar projects in Roma communities.

ZAGREB, August 19, 2018 - A drone race will be held in Budaševo near Sisak on August 25-26 with over 30 pilots from Croatia and abroad participating.

With 38% of locals engaged in sports activities, Sisak truly is a town of sports.