Zagreb Holding Goes into Restructuring, Unions Oppose Changes

Zagreb Holding is going into restructuring, and seven former subsidiaries will become commercial companies. This decision was made by a majority vote of representatives in the Zagreb City Assembly after a heated debate about the problems in the Holding and accusations from some representatives that the Holding’s Management lacks vision and strategy for the future. 25 representatives voted for the restructuring, while 21 were against.

Davor Bernardić, on behalf of the SDP Club, emphasized that for two and a half years he has been repeating that the City should be service-oriented and a true service to citizens, and that the Holding should professionally carry out communal activities. He reiterated that without an analysis of the situation and a restructuring plan, there is no direction for the development of ZG Holding and appealed to the CEO Slobodan Ljubičić to provide them with a restructuring plan. 

Andrija Mikulić, on behalf of the HDZ Club, HSP dr. Ante Starčević, and the Pensioners’ Bloc, assessed the claim of Mayor Milan Bandić that workers in the Holding and the City Administration will not be paid if the City Assembly does not support the restructuring of the Holding today as untrue.

– The Holding was created in 2006 to become a rational company, and today subsidiaries are being separated without any argument of economic justification – he said, questioning why subsidiaries are becoming the property of the City while their assets remain in the Holding.

Independent representative Vladimir Ferdelji, on behalf of the HSLS and HSS Clubs, stated that this is the first step in restructuring, and in the second step, he demands that the restructuring plan be ‘put on the table’ for each subsidiary. 

– Restructuring is delayed, and it should have started much earlier, and any postponement will make it even harder – Ferdelji said.

The president of the Zagreb City Assembly, Darinko Kosor (HSLS), supports the restructuring plan and the future sale of commercial activities but opposes the sale of monopolistic communal companies.

The Holding is a patient on life support, and we no longer have time, emphasized Mayor Milan Bandić in his closing address to the city representatives. He told the unions and opposition representatives that there is no alternative to the restructuring of ZG Holding.

All unions operating in Zagreb Holding gathered this morning in front of the Old City Hall, ahead of the City Assembly session, opposing the announcement of converting the Holding’s subsidiaries into commercial companies. City representatives from HDZ requested that this item be removed from the agenda, but that proposal did not pass at the beginning of the session.