Tomašević calls on entrepreneurs to start applying for public tenders

Zagreb’s Mayor Tomislav Tomašević met today with representatives of the Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP) at a working lunch at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel. Alongside Tomašević, the guests were addressed by HUP’s Director General Irena Weber, HUP President Mihael Furjan, and Petar Šimić, President of HUP – Association of Small and Medium Enterprises.

– I see this as the beginning of a quality cooperation between HUP and the City of Zagreb. I am glad and I did not know until now that I am the first Zagreb mayor to attend this gathering. Thirteen of us are here. The CEO of the Holding, the CEO of ZET, the director of the Zagreb Fair, and the department heads are all here to answer your questions – said Tomašević at the very beginning of the working lunch.

The City of Zagreb, the mayor says, has been very poorly managed and under-invested for many decades. He referred to numerous corruption scandals, the experiences of entrepreneurs who did not want to apply for public tenders because they believed they were rigged, and stated that this has been cut at the root.

‘Decades of poor management’

– We have not only had decades of poor management of Zagreb but also the war in Ukraine, storms, earthquakes, and the pandemic. All this in just over two years of mandate. The key is that we have stabilized finances, and today there are 700 fewer people working in the Holding. We have done very difficult things to stabilize it, given that it was going into greater deficits every year and counting losses – said Tomašević.

Explaining the ‘positive changes that Zagreb is experiencing’ since he took office, the mayor called on all entrepreneurs at the working lunch to start applying for public tenders and emphasized that there has not been a single corruption scandal since the beginning of his mandate, and that Zagreb’s rating has been raised six times by various agencies in the last two and a half years.

– We are making a huge leap in capital investments related to the construction of social activities in the City of Zagreb. Previously, these investments were around 30 million euros, and in 2024, it will be 220 million euros. The realization of this depends solely on public procurement, construction companies, and private entrepreneurs who need to apply for these tenders – added Tomašević.

Additionally, the mayor referred to upcoming projects and investments such as Blok Badel, Paromlin, Zagreb Stadium, Špansko Pool, the new tram line in Heinzlova, Sarajevska, Podbrežje, the Sports Hall, and Cinema Europa.

– It is not easy to change anything in Croatia, and we are absolutely determined to achieve things that are in the interest of the city to the end. This was also the case with the parent caregiver measure, which will save us 35 million euros and invest it in kindergartens and schools – said Tomašević.

And what about waste?

There was not much discussion about Jakuševac, but earlier today, the Zagreb County Prefect Stjepan Kožić told Tomašević that there has been enough politicization and that he should get to work because he regrets that an accident had to happen at Jakuševac for this issue to be pushed to the forefront.

– Since we are the smaller partner in this story, I can say that our hands are tied, although we have tried several times to discuss waste with Mayor Tomašević. I truly regret that people had to suffer for this issue, which I have been fighting for years as a prefect, to be pushed to the forefront – emphasized Kožić.

Mayor Tomašević, after yesterday’s landslide of waste at the Jakuševac landfill, said that he urgently wants to talk to the government about three issues that need to be resolved in order to finally close the Jakuševac waste landfill, and that this requires the realization of a waste management center in Resnik.

One of the topics is the issue of Zagreb County because the City is asking for the center to be only for Zagreb and not to be shared with Zagreb County because, as Tomašević said, that is one of the reasons why it has not been built for 20 years, Hina reported.