Much has been said in the Croatian media about the ambitious plans for the construction of the Sljeme cable car, which was supposed to replace the old, now defunct, cable car.

The old Sljeme cable car (Sljemenska žičara) operated between 1963 and 2007, when it was permanently closed. And practically since its shut-down, Mayor Bandić has been announcing the construction of the new, improved cable car which would take citizens of Zagreb and the tourists to the top of the Medvednica mountain, located just to the North of Zagreb. Last year the old pillars were removed, and this year the works on the construction of the new cable car have started, although not nearly as fast as it was announced. The price tag for the construction is also reported to be several times larger than in other similar projects, such as Sarajevo cable car, and Croatian media have reported that it's impossible to find who designed the new path for the cable car, which differs significantly from the old path.

And now Matej Mišić, a representative in the City Council asked how it was possible that the new credit line is needed for this construction. He says that the project is 12 years old and that it's unbelievable that the funding has yet not been secured, so instead of financing the project from the city budget, a new line of credit needs to be taken to get the money. Mišić wondered what that says about the finances in the city, as he commented Bandić's statement that ZET (public transport company in Zagreb) will take the loan of 450 million kunas to finish the Sljeme cable car. Mišić added that he doesn't know of a single cable car anywhere in the world which costs 560 million kunas (80 million euros!), which is what the total costs are presumed to be. The initial costs were supposed to be around 29 million kunas, but four times more has been spent in the first six months of the construction. Mišić points out that with this price-tag Zagreb should be getting a cable car to the top of Medvednica and all the way down on the other side of the mountain, in Bistra.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of April, 2019, this past weekend, as part of a socially responsible project, the popular JYSK retail chain held a voluntary action to plant 10,000 European beech seedlings in two zones in the Medvednica Nature Park in Sljeme, above Zagreb, which have been most adversely affected by the weather's elements over last few years.

"We got together on Sljeme so that JYSK's volunteers, together with citizens, planted 10,000 beech seedlings donated by JYSK as part of our action. We're renewing the area in two zones of the Medvednica Nature Park, which died a couple of years ago after stormy weather.

''In addition to helping financially as a company through such projects, we want to help and in a different way to keep track of nature for the next generation,'' said Vesna Kukić Lončarić for JYSK Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

The project was realised in cooperation with Croatian forests (Hrvatske šume), and the afforestation was carried out in the area around PD Risnjak within the Medvednica Nature Park. Despite the unfavourable weather conditions and even some snow, the afforestation action was supported by numerous citizens interested in the conservation of the environment who planted as many as 10,000 seedlings in the aforementioned locations. Among them was the famous Croatian singer Mirela Priselac Remi.

"We welcome JYSK's initiative and we'd like to thank them for their activities as part of their socially responsible business towards the forests. Such actions contribute to raising awareness among all citizens of the need for forest conservation and they are endangered by climate change and the irresponsible behaviour of individuals,'' she stated.

''Without the forests, there's no clean air nor is there any clean water, and such young and healthy forests as are sprouting here are our best allies in alleviating the consequences of climate change. There are multiple uses of forests, and only with responsible management can we manage to preserve them,'' said Damir Miškulin from Croatian forests.

For this project, JYSK collected funds from the sale of 50 percent of recycled plastic bags during the first three months of this year, which were donated for the purchase of seedlings for the purpose of afforestation. JYSK's objective is to raise public awareness of the importance of our forests and their development with a positive example, and continue to implement such projects throughout the year and throughout the whole of the Republic of Croatia.

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After years of back and forth (literally) on Sljeme's cable car, Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić has ceremonially opened the works on the up and coming cable car, he also explained why Zagreb's brand new attraction is going to cost more than the one in the Alps.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 25th of January, 2019, the ever enigmatic Milan Bandić symbolically started the works on the construction of the Sljeme cable car by using a dredge and laying a stone foundation.

The Sljeme cable car saga has been ongoing for some considerable time now, with a few little scandals under its belt for good measure, and now that works have finally actually begun, the contracted time for the eventual realisation of this large city project currently stands at fifteen months.

True to character, Milan Bandić was witty and always the spectacle yesterday, especially when responding to the question put forward by SDP's Mateja Mišić, who asked him where he intended to get the cash for the lift from if he hadn't put it in the plan for this year's budget, according to a report from Večernji list.

In 2019, Mišić recalled, the initially planned amount for Zagreb's cable car was once a certain amount, while the projection for 2020 is different.

''The money will be secured in the rebalances,'' concluded Bandić, who decided to justify matters and state that the up and coming Zagreb cable car will be more expensive than that which leads to Matterhorn.

Our cable car, as Milan Bandić said, is a kilometre longer, and therefore, unlike the one in the Alps that costs fourteen million euros, this one here costs fifteen million.

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The Snow Queen Trophy continued today on Zagreb’s Sljeme with the men’s race. 

Another year has passed without the construction of the new Sljeme cable car being anywhere near completion. Actually, the works have not even started. Last year, one of the cabins of the future cable car was presented as part of the Zagreb Advent. The 2.1-metre-tall and 2-metre wide cabin, which was proudly shown at the time, has since been removed so it would not remind citizens about the broken promise of the cable car being completed by the end of 2018, reports Večernji List on January 3, 2019.

The opposition recently organised a fake “inauguration ceremony” to remind citizens about Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić’s unfulfilled promise that the new cable car would be opened on 31 December. On the very same day, the mayor decided to announce instead that he has selected the GIP Pionir construction company to build the new cable car. It should cost 299.8 million kuna and be made in 15 months. The works are expected to start next month, provided there is no appeal against the mayor’s decision.

In the best-case scenario, the Sljeme cable car could be ready for users in mid-2020, if works do indeed start soon. The selected company is the same which, less than two years ago, won a 5.6 million kuna tender to remove 13 steel pillars of the old cable car, of between 7 and 40 metres in height. This is also the same company which worked on the “Bandić fountains,” and it also built a building in which Bandić lives.

The future cable car should have 84 ten-person cabins. The route to the top of the Sljeme mountain, four and a half kilometres long, will take 16 minutes. The upper station will be at the height of 1,030 metres. The new cabins will be larger, and the whole system will be faster than the old one which, after 44 years of use, stopped forever in 2007. That year, a severe engine malfunction occurred on the cable car. It was concluded that the whole system was obsolete and should be replaced by a new one.

At the time, almost 12 years ago, Milan Bandić, who has been the mayor more or less interrupted since 2000, announced that the new cable car would be ready “as soon as possible,” and the initial deadline was May 2009, with works starting “no later than” spring 2008.

It is now early 2019, and nothing has been done since.

More news on the Zagreb mayor can be found in our Politics section.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Mateja Šobak).

Zagreb's Sljeme mountain is a popular destination for many from the city when needing to take a break from the hustle and bustle of life down below in the Croatian capital. 

From skiing in the winter to hiking, biking and various other attractions that Sljeme offers its many visitors, one thing has been missing for a long time, and that is a cable car. Zagreb looks truly incredible from Sljeme, and a cable car would bring in excellent revenue for the capital as tourists begin to discover Croatia away from the coast more and more.

Talk of a cable car for Sljeme has been going on for quite some time now, and while it seemed at one point as if a concrete decision would never be arrived to and that the cable car story would just be another one of those things people discuss but which never actually comes to fruition, the company who will construct it has now finally been chosen.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 31st of December, 2018, the Sljeme cable car will come with a price tag of an enormous 299,790,853.96 kuna, which is the VAT-free cost.

The company chosen to go forth and construct the cable care is GIP Pionir, which removed Sljeme's former, old cable car years ago.

At the tender which was organised by the City of Zagreb, this company received an impressive 100 out of 100 points and was naturally deemed the most favourable offer to build what is likely to be one of Zagreb's top attractions when finished, according to a report from N1.

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The red slope on Sljeme is ready for another edition of the Snow Queen Trophy spectacle in Zagreb next month. 

The tower is one of the symbols of Zagreb.

Along with the construction of a city cable car, OiV is investing in a viewpoint, a rotating restaurant and other facilities in Sljeme's TV tower.

A rare occurrence happened on Zagreb’s hill today, as the road to the top was closed due to congestion near the top.