ZAGREB, 29 May 2022 - Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević has given an interview for Hina on the occasion of his one year in office, talking about what has been done and future projects.

Asked about his biggest success, he mentioned the new model of running the city in every aspect, from public procurement to hiring in dozens of city companies and over 300 institutions, saying that people are no longer appointed based on party affiliation but their qualifications.

Another success is the financial stabilisation of the city, Tomašević said, adding that the budget deficit is the lowest in the last five years at HRK 30 million, which he said was almost negligible considering that the budget was almost HRK 14 billion.

The mayor noted that the city now has 16 instead of 27 departments.

He also mentioned big changes in waste management, including the construction of a composting plant

As for failures, Tomašević said that although it was the legal responsibility of the state, he was very unhappy with the reconstruction of private buildings after the 2020 earthquake.

Asked which changes the people of Zagreb had felt over the past year, he said everything the new administration was doing was the basis for changes they would feel much more by the end of the term.

Speaking of future projects, Tomašević mentioned the procurement of 20 new trams and 65 buses, the construction of at least 12 kindergartens in the next two years, more bike paths and pedestrian zones.

He said the unused Paromlin industrial facility in the city centre would become a multifunctional social-cultural-educational centre financed mainly with EU funds.

Other unused properties such as Zagrepčanka, Gredelj, and Badel Block, which have been the city's "dead capital" for decades, will be revitalised to build affordable housing as well as put to social and commercial use, he added.

The city's housing fund policy is to build new flats for rent to socially vulnerable groups and young families at affordable prices, the mayor said. Our population policy is to invest in kindergartens so that they are affordable to everyone as well as affordable housing, he added.

Asked if the decision to abolish the state-at-home-parent scheme had been hasty, given that a court put it on hold, Tomašević said the scheme did not have a demographic effect and that, according to polls, most citizens considered it unjust.

Spending 15 times more on that scheme than on building kindergartens cannot be the city's development policy, he added.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

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ZAGREB, 8 May 2022 - Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević said on Sunday it was unacceptable that all doctors and nurses at the Gynaecology Department of the Sveti Duh Hospital were conscientious objectors and that he expected the hospital's new management to deal with this.

"It is unacceptable to me that absolutely all the doctors and nurses in Gynaecology have conscientious objection and I expect this to be dealt with," Tomašević told reporters ahead of a ceremony marking the Day of Victory over Fascism and the Day of Liberation of Zagreb.

Asked if he agreed with the claim that in the circumstances of collective conscientious objection pregnancy terminations were carried out in private institutions, the mayor said that this problem could be dealt with in different ways.

"But I also want that all legally permitted pregnancy terminations can be performed in Zagreb's largest city-owned healthcare institution and that is Sveti Duh," Tomašević said.

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ZAGREB, 8 May 2022 - The Network of Antifascist Women and the Alliance of Antifascist Fighters and Antifascists lit bonfires on the bank of the River Sava in Zagreb on Saturday evening in tribute to the Partisan units that liberated the Croatian capital on 8 May 1945.

The event was attended by Mayor Tomislav Tomašević, who said that it was the seventh year now that the liberation of Zagreb from Ustasha and fascist occupation had been commemorated by building bonfires by the Sava.

"During the Second World War and the difficult times of occupation, Zagreb was never subdued. Numerous residents of the city, together with Partisans from throughout Croatia, joined the National Liberation Movement and the Women's Antifascist Front, engaging in subversive operations against the occupying army and quislings. They were also hiding people who faced deportation to certain death, and put up resistance," the mayor said.

He said he was paying tribute to the 30,000 residents of Zagreb who had sacrificed their lives or had been the victims of the Ustasha and fascist terror.

"The units that liberated Zagreb did so on the wings of social justice, faith in equality and internationalism, which are the values that we should promote today," Tomašević said, adding that society should be built on class and gender equality.

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ZAGREB, 1 May 2022 - Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević said on Sunday, during a celebration of International Workers' Day, that the city as employer would endeavour to improve working conditions and that the aim is to eradicate work via agencies and closed-ended contracts. 

"There has been a lot of talk over the past few days of decreasing the number of workers in Zagreb Holding (utility conglomerate), however, there has not been any mention that since stepping into office we have employed 440 people in kindergartens, at the moment we are in the process of employing 80 ZET (public transport) drivers and 40 firefighters, and we will employ 40 municipal services monitoring officer," Tomašević said addressing the public at the celebration in Maksimir Park.

"It is essential that people are employed through real job advertisements after years of being employed due to party membership, but those times are over", he added.

"On 1 May we remember all those who fought for workers' rights which we take for granted today, he said and added that the "fight has to continue." The Zagreb city authorities firmly believes in unionising and collective bargaining because that is the only way workers' rights and better working conditions can be won, and that contributes to a better society and better quality of life for all", he said.

Crowds of citizens attended the celebration in Maksimir Park where they were first greeted by Social Democratic Party (SDP) officials, including the head of the SDP Zagreb branch, Viktor Gotovac, and president of the City Assembly, Joško Klisović.

"Workers' Day isn't just a ceremony. It is a great day. We remember the fight for fundamental human rights and that fight hasn't stopped, it is ongoing," Gotovac told reporters.

He said they were fighting for workers stripped of their rights, who are not paid for overtime work and who cannot get an open-ended employment contract.

Bridge councillor Trpimir Goluža underscored that this is a time when workers' rights are quite threatened, which is obvious in the situation in the Zagreb Holding.

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February 26, 2022 - Today Interior Minister Davor Božinović announced the beginning of the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in Croatia, following the Russian invasion of their country. The mayor of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević shared on his social networks that they will provide all the necessary assistance for them.

Being the third day since the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory began, neighboring countries begin to receive Ukrainian refugees at their borders. This is the case of Poland, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary, but also that of nearby countries such as Germany and the Czech Republic, all of whom, in addition to expressing their solidarity and condemning the Russian invasion, have confirmed their support in receiving and attending to the refugees. Although Ukraine does not belong to the European Union or the Schengen area, some of these countries maintain border agreements with Ukraine, and others have indicated that they will not require visas or permits to facilitate their entry.

The Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic stated today that several Ukrainian nationals have already arrived in Croatia and that the groundwork to make them comfortable and provide for their needs is now underway.

The news comes just after Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic took to Twitter to tweet that he has spoken with the government and with the Red Cross and that things were now fully underway to accept fleeing Ukrainian refugees.

The mayor of the Croatian capital of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević, has been the most recent authority to speak out on the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, and through a post on Facebook, he has expressed his solidarity, and also guaranteed his support and assistance for them.

''The City of Zagreb is ready to provide all possible assistance to refugees from Ukraine. We will make more locations available for the eventual reception of refugees, depending on their needs. This is the least we can do in solidarity with the citizens of Ukraine and the human tragedy they are going through'', reads the post shared by Tomašević.

The mayor of Zagreb finished his post by condemning the Russian invasion in Ukraine: ''I strongly condemn the aggression against Ukraine, because of which many lives will be destroyed - the violence must stop so that the innocent do not continue to suffer''.

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.

ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević inaugurated the Sljeme Cable Car on Wednesday, and citizens who have been waiting for the new cable car since 2007 can use it as of tomorrow.

"I am confident that the numerous citizens who will use this cable car will see that the ride is both safe and comfortable," Tomašević said, adding that the main task now is to enhance and increase the attractions and infrastructure on Mount Sljeme, overlooking the capital.

The old cable car was inaugurated in 1963 for the transport of athletes, recreationists and mountaineers, and its route was 4 km, 1 km shorter than the current one. It was one of the longest in Europe and the ride took some 20 minutes. It stopped operating in summer 2007 due to an engine fault, it was also decided that building a new cable car route was going to be more cost-efficient. A ticket cost HRK 11.

The construction of the new cable car was announced by the late mayor Milan Bandić in July 2016. HRK 30 million was earmarked in the city budget for the following year for the construction. A building permit was issued in summer 2018, and works began the following 25 January.

The new cable car was to have been inaugurated on 3 January 2021, but this was delayed until the final papers were ready and for some reconstruction works to be finished in April. However, there was a problem with noise and the final permit was obtained on Monday.

Tomašević said this was "an inherited, megalomaniacal project" worth HRK 537 million without VAT. The city would repay HRK 45 million annually over the next 12 years.

That amount refers to the cable car's capital expense, while an additional amount will be set aside from the city budget to cover 50% of its operating expenses.

"The investment in the cable car will never be returned and its big capacity to transport passengers to Sljeme will never be used to that extent," the mayor said.

The ride lasts 22 minutes. The cable car's maximum capacity is 1,500 passengers per hour, carried in 84 cabins with ten seats each.

The Sljeme Cable Car will operate from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays and from 8 am to 6 pm on weekends. The first month will be a promotional period and then the cable car will be closed for additional noise-reduction works, after which it will be put into regular operation.

During the promotional month, a one-way ticket will be HRK 30 for adults and HRK 20 for persons aged 15-24 and those over 60, while a return ticket will be HRK 50 for adults and HRK 30 for the other group. Children under 14 and persons will disabilities can use the cable car for free.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

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February 22nd, 2022 - The opening ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow, with the regular cable car service starting from Thursday

Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević announced at a press conference that the Sljeme cable car will start working this week, specifically on February 24th. 

‘This is a project we inherited and we did everything in our power to finish it and put it into use. I can now say that the last work permit for the cable car was obtained yesterday. The cable car will have a ceremonial launch tomorrow. It will be open to the public starting from this Thursday’, said Tomašević.

As reported by Poslovni Dnevnik, the mayor announced that the cable car will operate from 9 AM to 5 PM on weekdays, and from 8 AM to 6 PM on weekends.

Tomašević also said that the total cost of the cable car project currently amounts to 537 million kuna, and that the information frequently shared in the media mentioning figures over 700 million kuna include VAT which should not be taken into consideration.

‘There will never be any profit from the cable car’, said Tomašević and shared more information in regards to ticket prices. There are three pricing categories, and the tickets will have promotional prices for a while after the cable car starts operating. 

The first category includes those citizens who hold a ZET monthly pass, as the cable car is part of the public transport network. The ZET company is the investor and the manager of the cable car. This category will have the lowest ticket prices: 30 kuna for one-way tickets and 50 kuna for return tickets.

Tomašević pointed out that prices will increase after the promotional period ends.

The second category includes all Zagreb residents, as it’s them who will pay off the investment through the city budget. In this category, one-way tickets for adults will cost 40 kuna and the return tickets 70 kuna. Tickets for older children and the elderly will cost 25 kuna one-way and 40 kuna for the return ticket, whereas young children and people with disabilities will use the cable car free of charge.

The third category includes all passengers who aren’t residents of Zagreb and don’t have a ZET pass, and as such will be paying the full price to ride the cable car. One-way tickets for adults will cost 75 kuna and return tickets 125 kuna. Older children and the elderly will be paying 50 kuna for one way tickets and 75 kuna for return tickets, and tickets for young children and people with disabilities will cost 20 kuna one way and 30 kuna for the return.

February the 13th, 2022 - Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic has discussed the ongoing topic of the Sljeme cable car which has faced numerous obstacles when it comes to noise complaints and obtaining all of the proper permits. This would-be new attraction for the City of Zagreb would allow visitors to experience the nature it has on offer in addition to the bustling city which has attracted more and more foreign visitors over more recent years.

The cable car, which would transport residents and visitors to the Croatian capital alike up the mountain which towers behind it, still isn't quite out of the paperwork woods yet, however.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, after the Sljeme cable car finally received the green light from the Sanitary Inspection, Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic announced that it should be open by the end of February, if all of the necessary permits are finally in proper order by then.

"At the beginning of next week, a permit for use should be issued, followed by a report on the safety of the Sljeme cable car by the end of the week, and then a work permit issued by the Ministry of Transport will follow," Tomasevic said.

However, as an additional 1.7 million kuna will be invested in the Sljeme cable car for noise reduction, following one complaint which saw a permit rejected in the not so distant past, Tomasevic announced that it will be open to the public during its promotional hours, and then it will be closed for a week to carry out any additional work before opening properly for for good.

“Some of the work can only be done while the Sljeme cable car is not working. If the administrative deadlines are met, it will be closed after the promotional period, and then reopened and will work regularly after that,'' explained Tomasevic.

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January 30, 2022 - The lack of the habit of sorting garbage is one of the biggest problems regarding waste in the Croatian capital, which is why the city of Zagreb will build a sorting plant in Žitnjak.

The waste sorting plant in Žitnjak is planned to be completed in two years and will swallow 120,000 tons of waste per year, which will be sorted by size, color, ballistic and magnetic properties, reports Jutarnji List.

The Center for Waste Management (ZCGO), which is the project holder, informed that Zagreb will build a sorting plant worth 392 million kuna, which will be able to swallow as much as 120,000 tons of waste a year, could be built by the end of this or the beginning of next year.

It has ready-made documentation, clean land of the bankrupt Dioki of almost 100,000 square meters, a location permit, and in the summer, after obtaining a building permit, a public procurement for contractors should follow. The planned construction period is two years, and until then the most important thing is for citizens to adopt the habit of separating waste in their households.

Plastic in yellow bags, biological waste in brown bags, and mixed, as announced, in official city bags of 4 or 8 kuna. By the way, only 17 percent of Zagreb residents now sort waste. Igor Zgomba, the director of ZCGO, tried to vividly explain that Zagreb will finally have a plant that will be able to receive, purify, dispose of, and even place 120,000 tons of dry recycle on the market.

The Zagreb sorting plant is the first step. It will receive about 120,000 tons of yellow bags, ie the already separated so-called dry recycling - plastic, paper, cardboard, metal, and glass - which will be further separated in the 16,500 square meter plant and finally sold on the market as pure recycled (although it can never be completely clean).

So, when the citizens of Zagreb separate their waste on the doorstep - plastic, paper and metal into yellow, or biowaste into brown bins and mixed waste into, as announced, official city bags - the contents of the yellow bins will go to the sorting plant. Once again, finely sorted, this waste will come out in the form of paper, plastic, metal or glass cubes of several tons. According to Zgomba, a little more than 80 percent of the total amount of waste entering the plant can come out of the sorting plant in a highly purified form.

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ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - Deputy Mayor Danijela Dolenec on Thursday evening commented on Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić's accusing the City of Zagreb and Mayor Tomislav Tomašević of being responsible for markedly higher corporate gas bills in Zagreb, noting that a solution would have to be sought in cooperation with the state.

Ćorić said earlier in the day that Tomašević and his team were responsible for the markedly higher corporate gas bills in Zagreb, and not HDZ personnel, because they failed to procure it at better prices.

Tomašević said the former director of the City Gasworks' Supply division, Igor Pirija, who ran the division until last October, was responsible and that he was HDZ personnel, claiming that he did not buy gas at cheaper prices on time and that Zagreb businesses were in trouble because of him.

"The former management of the City Gasworks' Supply division made a number of bad business decisions that resulted in losses for that company and higher bills for corporate users. In the spring (of 2021) it signed contracts under which already then it sold gas at prices that were below market prices while buying it at variable prices. It created a huge risk and we see the consequences now," the deputy mayor said.

She put this in the context of the global energy crisis, saying that not only Zagreb but other local government units as well were having problems with gas prices and that a solution would have to be sought in cooperation with the state.

Talks are underway and the public will be informed of the results, she said.

Dolenec also noted that one should establish if the unfavourable contracts on gas prices were only bad business moves by the former management of the City Gasworks' Supply division or were harmful contracts for which one should be held criminally liable.

She also said that the city would cover the difference in the gas bill of the soup kitchen in Zagreb's Sveti Duh neighbourhood, which from the earlier monthly amount of HRK 6,000 has risen to 25,000.

"The St Anthony of Padua soup kitchen... provides around 400 meals a day. The city has financed soup kitchens since 2004, and in the budget for this year HRK 700,000 has been earmarked for soup kitchens," Dolenec said, noting that the city would make sure the operation of the soup kitchen was not jeopardised.

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