Zoning and Construction Minister Branko Bacic, said on Tuesday that the entire process of reconstruction after the earthquakes in central and north-west Croatia, which was hit by devastating tremors in 2020, should be completed by 2030.

The construction of new family houses and apartment blocks for all those whose homes were destroyed in the quakes is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027, the minister said.

According to Bacic, who presented a report on the subject to the expert working group on Tuesday, around 900 new buildings will be built for this purpose.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Josip Atalic, professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Zagreb, told the working group that he and the civil engineering experts are satisfied with the progress made in post-earthquake reconstruction in recent years.

12.307 damaged properties have been rebuilt so far

So far, 2.9 billion euros have been spent on reconstruction projects, including 1.7 billion euros in the Zagreb region, which was affected by the earthquake on 22 March 2020, and 1.2 billion euros in the Petrinja region, which was affected by the earthquake on 29 December 2020. This is in addition to 65.8 million euros for reconstruction, which the owners carried out on their own, the minister said.

The report on this topic will be forwarded to Parliament.

To date, 12,307 damaged properties have been rebuilt. Of these, 11,644 are private properties and 663 are buildings housing public institutions and local utilities.

Over 10,000 buildings only needed to be renovated, while 182 buildings have been retrofitted to make them earthquake-proof.

To date, a total of 277 new family homes have been built for earthquake victims, with a further 263 under construction. In addition, 35 houses have been purchased for earthquake victims to move into.

Mobile and prefabricated houses

Currently, 1,557 private properties and 250 public buildings are being rebuilt.

In addition, 59 apartment blocks will be built in the Banovina area by the second half of 2025, which Bacic described as a major contribution to the revitalisation of Sisak-Moslavina County.

After these natural disasters, 157 state flats were renovated for the earthquake victims and 130 mobile and 131 prefabricated houses were provided for the people affected by the earthquakes.

These prefabricated and mobile houses will later be used to expand the capacity of retirement homes.

According to Bacic, 16.02 million euros were used to co-finance the rental of replacement properties. The government has taken out a loan of 200 million euros from the World Bank to ensure the financing of the reconstruction of some of the hospitals, schools and dormitories affected by the earthquakes.