Minister: Reconstruction of family homes to be completed by 2027 at latest

Hina - Minister of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets Branko Bačić said on Thursday that the renovation of family homes will be fully completed by the end of next year or, at the latest, during 2027, while the complete structural renovation will be finished by the end of 2030.

"Since many citizens were not entitled to renovation for various reasons, we still have around 7,500 locations left to complete. Our plan is to fully finish all family houses, about 800 in total, by the end of next year or, at the latest, during 2027," Bačić said in Parliament during a debate on the 2024 post-earthquake reconstruction report for Zagreb, Banovina, and Karlovac, Zagreb, and Krapina-Zagorje counties.

The minister also announced that the full structural renovation of Zagreb's Lower Town and apartment buildings in the Petrinja and Glina areas will be completed by the end of 2030. The planned total reconstruction budget is about €8 billion.

Presenting the latest data, Bačić said that as of today, €3.8 billion has been spent on the reconstruction process in the Zagreb and Petrinja earthquake areas, of which 2.2 billion was used for the reconstruction of public buildings and private properties in the Zagreb earthquake zone, and €1.6 billion in the Petrinja earthquake zone.

He added that an additional €1.3 billion is planned this year for the renovation of public buildings and private properties.

Bačić also said that as of 1 June 2025, 13,372 sites have been completed, of which 12,636 are private buildings while 736 projects concern public buildings.

He emphasised that a total of 50,000 private housing units have been renovated in the areas affected by the two earthquakes. Additionally, 380 family houses have been built as of today, with 274 currently under construction. Furthermore, there are currently 1,886 active construction sites.

Regarding the renovation of public buildings and public, communal, transport, and energy infrastructure, Bačić said that 1,309 projects have been launched in the earthquake zones, with 1,119 completed as of today.

He warned that the renovation has not progressed faster due to a lack of sufficient construction workforce.

Opposition: First three years of reconstruction wasted

Although both the parliamentary majority and opposition praised Bačić's work and the acceleration of reconstruction in 2024 during the debate, the opposition pointed out that the first three years of reconstruction were 'wasted' due to incompetent ministers.

Sandra Benčić (We Can!) said that the progress made in 2024 proves that the first three years after the earthquake were wasted due to incompetent ministers and the fact that a large-scale reconstruction effort was not approached as required, given that it was the biggest undertaking since post-war reconstruction and Croatia's accession to the EU.

Former Sisak mayor Kristina Ikić Baniček (SDP) said that while the numbers in the reconstruction report look excellent, the houses and buildings in Sisak and Petrinja do not correspond with the report. She believes that without comparable numbers including unresolved procedures and unbuilt houses and buildings, it is difficult to make a fair assessment of the reconstruction progress.

Nikola Grmoja (Bridge) warned that five years have passed since the earthquake and that people from Banovina still live in container homes, while their houses, initially categorised as requiring demolition, are suddenly categorised as habitable.

In contrast, HDZ MP Magdalena Komes recalled the scale of damage caused by the earthquakes, saying the number of people living in container homes had significantly decreased.

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