January the 6th, 2022 - The late Mayor Milan Bandic, who passed away back in spring last year from what was then reported as a massive heart attack, has left a very long legacy behind him. From political scandals and serious allegations to being a longtime corruption suspect followed closely by USKOK, one cannot ever say that the former Zagreb mayor had a boring life.

His widow, Vesna Bandic, about whom we recently wrote, has stated that she doesn't know where all this money ''hidden away with friends'' the late Mayor Milan Bandic was claimed to have, but it seems that the assets we do know about could be worth a massive three million euros in total.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the legacy of the late Mayor Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic is extensive, and his assets could be worth at least 20 million kuna today, Jutarnji list reported recently.

This is of course if you count the well-known properties, movables and works of art Bandic had possession of both here in Croatia and in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, which were linked to the former mayor by the Zagreb County Court and are scattered on several sides, some with his brother Drago Bandic and others with the Brzica family from Imotski.

In short, the court attributed four apartments in Zagreb worth about 10 million kuna, a cottage in Samobor, some works of art and oldtimers, and a property in Herzegovina worth 10 million kuna to the late Mayor Milan Bandic.

The story of Milan Bandić's mythical properties and assets, which is almost impossible to trace in its entirety, was recently updated by Bandic's widow Vesna Bandic, who said in an interview with Jutarnji that she could soon be left without everything, about which you can read in more detail in the link provided above. According to official data, only a part of Bandic's estimated legacy now belongs to her.

In the interview, she said that after her husband's death, she owned a part of the property Buzanova street, a cottage in Samobor and a part of the property in Herzegovina, a luxurious property in Grude in an area that has become known for being closely tied to Bandic and his cash. The problem now, according to Vesna Bandic, is that she cannot reach an agreement with her late husband's brother, Drago Bandic, on how to divide up the property.

Public cadastral data shows that only two properties now officially belong to Vesna Bandic. Half of the apartment in Buzanova street and a cottage in Samobor. Specifically, she owns a 176-square-metre apartment in Buzanova 4, which consists of a 119-square-metre attic living space, a 54-square-metre terrace, some basement storage and a garage space.

For the other three properties, apartments in Kruge, Jarun and Gracani, Vesna Bandic says that she has never heard of them and that they didn't appear among his registered properties. However, the court found that these apartments, formally owned by the Brzica, Mate and Silvana families from Imotski, could allegedly also belong to Bandic and that Bandic used them, according to Jutarnji list journalist Filip Pavic.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

September the 4th, 2021 - Former Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic, a deeply controversial figure even for Croatian politics, has been dead for six months now. The longtime mayor died suddenly and prematurely from a massive heart attack in the spring, and despite jokes that he'd still somehow run for mayor from beyond the grave, the capital has a new government headed by Mozemo! (We Can!) leader Tomislav Tomasevic. Six months after his death, where are Bandic's former associates?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the people who once decided on the fate of the City of Zagreb for years, apparently untouchable, are now mostly retired from politics, some are engaged in kinesiology, some in security, and some in consulting, RTL reported.

Mirka Jozic is no longer in a leading position within the city administration, she's now a business advisor. If you need help with finances, the environment, and utilities, this former close associate of Milan Bandic can give you advice. She left and founded her company a month ago and paid herself her very first salary.

"Well, it's not a bad feeling to pay yourself your own salary, I mean, I used to work in the private sector, then in the public sector and now again in the private sector as an independent person. It's all fun in its own way,'' said Mirka Jozic.

She once had three thousand colleagues, and now she has none.

"My old colleagues and friends are still my friends, I don't miss my old job and I think it's time for a change and it will come in handy," added Jozic.

He once commanded the situation during earthquakes, floods, fires, and he was known for his colourful use of language. He was the head of the Emergency Management Office for 13 years, an office he himself set up, but Pavle Kalinic now has a new job. He works in a security company where he is the director of corporate security and development.

In perhaps the saddest alteration, Zagreb's much loved ''first dog'' also unfortunately died after having had a tumour.

With the arrival of the new Zagreb government, eleven people left the chairs they had grown so comfortable sitting in, some too comfortable. Nine of them resigned at the request of the new mayor, Tomislav Tomasevic, and some of them, including Milana Vuković Runjic and Sanja Jerkovic, are now assistant heads.

Andrea Sulentic, the former head of the Mayor's Professional Service, is suspected of rigging the competition for the director of the Srebrnjak Hospital. When she isn't in the company of prison officers, she works in the regional office of the local self-government.

Miro Laco, who is accused of wrongdoing alongside Milan Bandic in the now somewhat infamous Agram affair, and Ivica Lovric, the former head of education, are now special advisers to the new mayor.

Apart from the head, many other people who once gathered around the late Milan Bandic will not welcome the autumn at their old jobs. The former head of Zagreb Holding, Ana Stojic Deban, got tired because the pace of the late mayor was difficult to follow.

"His day lasted over 20 hours, he had over 20 commitments a day."

In a telephone conversation, she said that she is taking a break entirely until end of October, and then she'll go into the private sector and withdraw entirely from public life. Slavko Kojic - Milan Bandic's former head of finance and a friend with whom he worked for 35 years, doesn't have those same plans.

"It's dynamic for me because I'm versatile, I played sports and music. I'm active in Bandic's party, I'm a business director and I'm there almost every day and I know everything that is happening,'' said Kojic.

After the election, Jelena Pavicic Vukicevic also withdrew from the political scene and announced that she would continue her career as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Kinesiology in Zagreb.

As Milan Bandic's time at the helm of Zagreb drew to a sudden close with the ending of his life, he took the many controversies and undoubtedly many secrets with him. As ''his people'' gradually disperse, a new era for the Croatian capital is upon us - for better or for worse.

For more, follow our dedicated politics section.

August the 31st, 2021 - The new Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic and his city administration is seeking millions in damages from the late Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic's many alleged affairs and scandals.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Tomislav Tomasevic and his government are looking for the money extracted during the time of former mayor Milan Bandic in alleged scandals, most of which are well known to the public, reports Jutarnji list.

The closest associates of the late Mayor Milan Bandic in Zagreb's city administration, as well as the owners of companies that benefited from doing ''illegal business'' with the City of Zagreb are being watched very closely by the new Zagreb government led by Tomislav Tomasevic, who is asking for a return of a little more than 227 million kuna in what he claims is looted money.

The office of Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic confirmed to Jutarnji list that the new city administration, on behalf of the City of Zagreb, has submitted property claims in all proceedings in which, according to USKOK (Croatian State Prosecutor's Office for the Suppression of Organised Crime and Corruption) indictments, the capital city was financially damaged.

When submitting the request for the return of the money, Tomasevic's administration allegedly adhered to those USKOK indictments that the court has confirmed so far, this incluces the owners of companies that benefited from said illegal activities, as well as some court experts and lawyers who participated in the conclusion of those criminal cases.

"It's our responsibility to ask for the stolen city money to be given back to the city treasury because it's the money of our citizens,'' the Zagreb mayor's office confirmed.

Although all the indictments on which the current city government bases its property and legal claims were confirmed during Bandic's lifetime, the former city administration failed to submit any requests for the return of the apparently stolen money.

Namely, it was difficult and rather illogical to expect that Milan Bandic himself and his closest associates from Zagreb's city administration would file any demands for the return of the stolen money against themselves.

Many of these people are still employees of the city administration, although they are no longer in the positions they held back during the controversial Bandic's time.

For more, follow our dedicated politics section.

June the 18th, 2021 - Mozemo! and SDP have joined up at the Croatian capital city's helm and have presented 28 of the main Zagreb projects they intend to implement as a team.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, SDP and Mozemo! have signed a coalition agreement on cooperation in the City of Zagreb. The draft agreement contains 28 points on their programme cooperation, which will ensure a majority in the Zagreb City Assembly.

A list of 28 Zagreb projects that will be crucial during their first term has also been published, and we're bringing you a list of them below in full:

1. The reformation of the city administration, city institutions and city companies with the aim of the responsible, transparent and efficient management of the city administration, companies and property.

2. The establishment of a city treasury system that will be visible to all residents through an online platform to enable financial transparency

3. The acceleration of the post-earthquake reconstruction of public buildings and private homes damaged back in March 2020

4. The setting up of an online anti-corruption platform for reporting all irregularities and illegalities in the work of the city administration and city companies, especially in public procurement or tenders

5. The digitalisation of all administrative processes and the speeding up of procedures for residents, the use of digital technologies for communication with people and for the better regulation of traffic, public lighting, the water supply and waste collection

6. The management of Zagreb's city owned property in an efficient, transparent and sustainable way so that property income is used to maintain existing properties and ensure a more balanced development

7. The introduction of extracurricular activities within the scope of "Education for active citizenship" in primary and secondary schools, with the aim of preparing students to take a conscious, responsible and active role in society and care for the public good, a healthy lifestyle and responsible money management

8. The building of new nursing/care homes and the establishment of day care centres in city districts, as well as the provision of better care for the elderly in their own homes

9. The adoption of the traffic development plan of the City of Zagreb, the integration of the public transport system, the expansion of the tram network and the building of proper bicycle paths

10. The realisation of two brand new underpasses under the railway, one of which will be in the western part and the other in the eastern part of the city

11. The ensuring of a sustainable number of parking spaces per neighbourhood

12. The improvement of the availability of healthcare services through a better system of health centres more evenly distributed across the city's districts and the provision of preconditions for the construction of a hospital in Novi Zagreb

13. The increasing of palliative care capacities across the city

14. The development of new planning bases for the new General Urban Plan of Zagreb and Sesvete, in accordance with the principles of balanced polycentric development in which new housing units are accompanied by appropriate social and communal infrastructure

15. The construction of new public apartments for rent to make housing in the city more affordable

16. The increasing of the share of recycled and composted waste and the ensuring of all of the proper preconditions for closing the Prudinec - Jakusevec landfill

17. The proper development of a transparent system for financing cultural activities and appointing members of the governing bodies of cultural institutions, the introduction of the monitoring of the implementation of the programme and the ensuring of cultural facilities being more accessible in neighbourhoods

18. The expansion and improvisation of the water supply and drainage network

19. The modernisation of the city's kindergartens and schools in compliance with the pedagogical standard and the supply of all of them with locally produced food

20. The combatting of gender-based violence against women and LGBTIQ+ people

21. The improvisation of the city's sports infrastructure, especially for recreational and amateur sports

22. The improvement of people's social security through more adequate measures and services

23. The increasing of green and wooded public areas

24. The improvement the accessibility of the city to people with disabilities

25. The establishment of youth centres and support for young people, especially when it comes to education and employment

26. The provision of incentives for energy renewal, energy transition and the further development of green technologies

27. The encouraging of new technology companies in sectors such as that of the IT and the green economy to develop business in Zagreb

28. The enabling of continuous cooperation between the scientific research community, private companies and the City of Zagreb in order to develop communal innovations and create new work places

For more on Zagreb projects and Croatian politics in general, make sure to check out our dedicated politics section.