Construction Minister Branko Bacic and representatives of two construction companies have signed contracts on the post-earthquake construction of 18 replacement family houses in the Zagreb area, the ministry said on Friday.

Works are expected to start in the first week of September.

Contractors are being sought for nine houses in Zagreb’s Cucerje district for which the tender was annulled because the bids were several times higher than the estimated value, the ministry said.

In the Zagreb area, bids have also been invited for the seismic retrofitting of 12 blocks with 166 flats, 15 business premises and 15 family houses, and next week, bids are expected to be invited for the reconstruction of 200 blocks of flats. Tenders are also being prepared for the reconstruction of 318 flats and 20 business premises.

Post-earthquake reconstruction in the Zagreb area has been completed on 2,528 family houses,  and works are under way at 162 construction sites, the ministry said.

To date, the ministry has given €69.8 million to citizens in the Zagreb area who embarked on post-earthquake reconstruction on their own. Also, 157 state-owned flats have been made available to people who could not stay in their homes after the 2020 earthquake.