Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic on Tuesday presented the draft city budget for 2023, which is the biggest to date at 16.6 billion kuna, including a triple increase in capital investment funds.

Zagreb plans to make 778 million kuna worth of capital investments next year, he told the press.

The 16.6 billion kuna include 340 educational, social, health and other city institutions and its increase is mainly due to higher wages in the public sector which the state agreed with the unions, for which 700 million kuna is envisaged, Tomasevic said.

On the revenues side, the city plans to absorb 1.2 billion kuna from EU funds, 500 million more than this year. The city will borrow 600 million kuna in 2023, down from 1.4 billion last year and 1.3 billion in 2020.

Next year the city projects a surplus of 300 million kuna to cover the inherited 1.4 billion kuna debt.

In the next two years, the city plans to invest 289 million kuna in kindergartens. This year the city will have reconstructed six schools and next year it will reconstruct four, for which 260 million kuna will be invested. The projects will apply for EU funds.

The city will also start construction on one of the biggest capital projects, the Paromlin City Library, worth 500 million kuna and expected to be built by 2025.

The 2023 budget includes funds for building a composting plant at Novska. Zagreb is wrapping up negotiations with that town, which should give the land for the plant for free. Zagreb plans to cover half the 260 million kuna investment from the city budget and the rest with EU funds.

Zagreb also plans to invest 300 million kuna in the purchase of 20 new trams.

Tomasevic said the draft budget for next year was a step forward in the transparency of city finances as the City Assembly would have, for the first time, a detailed insight into how budget funds were being spent.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)