What is the connection between the SDP and Možemo! dispute and what does Rimac have to do with it?

The project for the development of robotaxis by entrepreneur and innovator Mate Rimac has caused a rift among partners in the ruling coalition in the City of Zagreb. As a result, at today’s Assembly meeting, the SDP parliamentary group will not vote in favor of Mayor Tomislav Tomašević‘s conclusion to announce a competition for the establishment and transfer of construction rights on city land where Rimac’s Mobility Center is supposed to be built, as reported by Jutarnji list. 

This decision, they learned, was made at the meeting of the city committee of the SDP on Friday, where the coalition agreement with Možemo! was also terminated.

– The mayor is announcing a competition for which it is already known that Rimac will win. We have known for a year what the project will look like; it concerns a green area near the Student Dormitory ‘Stjepan Radić’ on the Sava, which Bandić promised Rimac with the support of the HDZ, and we find the location problematic because no traffic study has been conducted. From that location, robotaxis are supposed to join traffic on roads that are already congested – explains the position of the city SDP, one participant of that meeting.

Tomašević wanted to avoid a rebellion 

As a second contentious issue, it is noted that the conclusion about announcing the competition was not sent to the City District Council or the Local Committee Council, and in his opinion, Tomašević clearly wanted to avoid his councilors who might rebel against construction on green space, as they did in Peščenica over the financing of bins for garbage cans.

– This is contrary to Tomašević’s promise to increase citizen participation in decision-making – says this SDP member.

How they will vote on the loan of 1.8 billion kuna requested by Zagrebački holding, he says, will be decided before the meeting itself.

Rimac’s company, which develops autonomous taxi vehicles ‘Project 3 Mobility’, wants to build a Mobility Center worth 8.2 million kuna on a plot of 12,000 square meters, where electric robotaxis will be charged, maintained, and cleaned. Along with this 1,400 square meter center, a park and square should be arranged, and the investors promise to retain trees and greenery. When it comes to traffic, they claim that a roundabout is also planned to be built at the intersection of Jarunska and the branch of Savska road, which, through an underpass, currently leads to the Savski most terminus.

– The idea is that this area is no longer just a meadow that is currently, realistically, unused, but a space where people can relax and socialize. The proposal is for the northern half of the current meadow to be a green square/park, fully integrated with the greenery currently on the site – stated the Rimac company for Jutarnji list.

When it comes to the building, it will be divided into two floors and five units. The ground floor will accommodate 40 parking spaces with e-charging stations, a workshop for vehicle repairs and cleaning, an inspection zone, and a storage area for spare parts. The first floor should have a smaller space of 200 square meters that will serve as a control and management room. The roof of the first floor will be covered with greenery.

The well-known studio 3LHD won the competition for the conceptual design of the project, meeting all the conditions that the City required.

The architects preserved all the trees in their project and positioned the building to be in the background.

– The main elements of shaping the city square and park are limitedly shaped park-urban elements. Movement through the park will be winding, with the effect of traveling through trees by forming mounds and slightly raised paths – states the project of the 3LHD studio, which also worked on Rimac’s campus in Sveti Nedelja.

The company Project 3 Mobility, in which investors Rimac, Kia, and Infinum are involved, is expected to receive construction rights on city land for a period of 50 years, and will pay 821,000 kuna annually excluding VAT.

Deadline for completion is 7 years

The city has defined the conditions of the competition, and Rimac financed the competition for the conceptual design.

Since this city plot also contains water supply, sewage, telephone ducts, and electricity – underground water, the investor will have to relocate the existing communal infrastructure and pipes at their own expense.

The relevant city office verified the competition for the development of the conceptual design, and based on the winning work, they issued an opinion that the project can be realized on that plot. In July of this year, a report on the price of construction rights was also prepared. The Mobility Center, according to the law, must be completed within seven years from the date of application for the start of construction.

However, representatives from the investor’s company stated that the building could be completed by the end of this year, and Rimac promised that by 2024 the first 60 autonomous taxis would start operating in Zagreb, and that by 2030, they would produce as many as 700 vehicles. The entire project is worth 3.4 billion kuna.