The Mayor of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomasevic, announced at a press conference on Monday that the accumulated loss made by the previous city administration for five consecutive years has been neutralised two years ahead of schedule.

The mayor said that another good news regarding the city’s finances is that the rating agency Standard & Poor’s upgraded the rating of the City of Zagreb for the third time in a year and a half on Sunday. This means that the city’s credit rating has been downgraded from speculative to investment grade after 13 years.

It said that in its 2023 report to the City Assembly, it will state that a surplus of 137 million euros has been generated and that a deficit of 185 million euros has been neutralised two years ahead of the December 2020 deadline set by the previous city administration.

This is one of the reasons why investment viability has been restored and why there are no more delays in payments to nurseries, schools, health centres and all cultural facilities, he stressed. This is also the reason why the City has reduced the payment deadlines for all suppliers to 30 days, which is shorter than the deadlines set by the state, and why there is a record number of companies bidding for public contracts, he added.

Tomasevic also boasted about record investments this year of more than 200 million euros, which is five times more than the city’s average investment in the construction of kindergartens, schools and all other facilities. He noted that due to the current financial stability, the City of Zagreb is possibly the only city in the country that has not increased prices for services.

Prices for retirement homes have remained the same despite inflation, kindergartens are still the cheapest among major cities in the country, prices for water, waste disposal and public transport have not increased and will remain so at least until the end of the year, the mayor said.