The price of water in Zagreb will be increased by about 20 percent as of 1 January, the CEO of Zagreb Holding, Ivan Novakovic, announced on Monday, adding that this was necessary "due to legal obligations," and that the money would be invested in the reconstruction of the water supply infrastructure.

In 2023, the city’s water compans ViO will have to increase their prices by about 20 percent. “Half of the water supply in Zagreb is currently lost due to leaks in the aging infrastructure, and according to new regulations ViO is obliged to pay a fee for the water pumped into the system rather than water delivered to users,” Novakovic told reporters.

The company now expects the price increase would bring in some 200 million kuna (€26 million), with three quarters of the sum earmarked by ViO for investing into upgrading the water supply infrastructure. A separate infrastructure project is also planned, which involves spending some 2 billion kuna (€265 million) over the next five years to gradually reduce water leaks and replace burst pipes.

The price of a cubic meter of water will thus increase from 15.29 kuna (€2.03) to 17.75 kuna (€2.35), with a 3.96 kuna (€0.5) fee for wastewater purifier included.

Parking prices at the city’s public parking lots in the city centre – at Tuskanac, Langic, Petrinjska street, Gorica, and Kvatric – will also increase, to 12 kuna (€1.60) per hour.

Novakovic said that the process of the restructuring of Zagreb Holding, which also includes layoffs in the company’s administration, was “over,” and that staff has been downsized by 700 since the end of last year. Hina did not say how large the company’s workforce is.

The number of employees in administration was reduced by 471, and by 651 in the entire company. When 59 agency workers are added, the total savings in wages amount to 104 million kuna (€13.8 million) per year. On the other hand, about 138 million kuna (€18.3 million) was spent on severance pay. And about 10 percent of those laid off have filed lawsuits against the company.

He said that they established a system of rational cost management, and the most significant savings were made on bulk and bio-waste recycling, which had previously been done by private companies. For instance, 40 million kuna (€5.3 million) per year is saved on bulky waste processing.

The company’s total debt remained at a similar level as in June 2021, and amounts to 4.1 billion kuna (€543 million).

(€1 = 7.54 kuna)