The acting director of the Reconstruction Fund, Damir Vandjelic, presented this fund at a press conference on Friday, saying that work on the reconstruction of buildings in Zagreb and two adjacent counties, damaged by a strong earthquake in March, would begin before next summer.

He said that IT tools would be developed to enable those interested to see the costs, the contracts signed and the state of each individual building. He said that he would propose putting in place additional control mechanisms, such as internal and external audits and a special department for prevention of fraud.

The Fund for the Reconstruction of the City of Zagreb, Krapina-Zagorje County and Zagreb County was established under a law passed on September 11. Its task is to coordinate work on the reconstruction of non-public buildings.

Funds for the structural reconstruction of family houses, residential and commercial buildings and multi-apartment buildings, as well as for the construction of substitute housing for families whose homes have been declared uninhabitable or temporarily uninhabitable, will be provided by the central government (60%), the City of Zagreb, Krapina-Zagorje County and Zagreb County (20%) and property owners (20%).

Vandjelic noted that hospitals and schools damaged in the earthquake did not fall within the Fund’s competence.

An estimated 6,500 buildings require reconstruction, which is expected to cost at least HRK 42 billion (€5.6bn). Vandjelic said that a more accurate estimate would be possible after the completion of a study and a cost estimate for each building.

He said that the Fund’s governing council would hold its inaugural meeting on Monday, November 16.

Vandjelic, who is not a member of any political party, dismissed the speculation that he would run for Mayor of Zagreb as the candidate of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in local elections in May next year. He said that the Reconstruction Fund was his priority.