The City of Zagreb, the Croatian government and the Archdiocese of Zagreb signed an agreement on Wednesday on the construction of the new football stadium in Zagreb's Maksimir neighbourhood.

Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, and the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Zagreb Drazen Kutlesa, have signed two agreements that will end 27-year-long ownership dispute over the land on which the Maksimir football stadium is located, which began in 1997.

The agreements pave the way for the construction of the new Maksimir stadium.

At the beginning of December, the Zagreb authorities, the government and the Archdiocese of Zagreb reached an agreement regarding the land on which the stadium is located. The agreement stipulates that the land will be donated to the city, while the City and the government will in return make ten plots of land available to the archdiocese for the construction of churches.

After the signing, Kutlesa said that he was satisfied that this agreement had been reached, from which, in his opinion, all citizens of Zagreb will benefit. He added that the church will build churches, kindergartens and anything else needed in the area on the land it received in exchange for Maksimir.

“Today really is an important day, because after 27 years a property dispute has been settled. It was precisely because of this dispute that the issue in the past was not the construction of a new stadium, but the reconstruction of the old one. I am satisfied that this problem was resolved during the term of office of this City administration. We have shown that even the most difficult problems can be solved,” said Mayor Tomasevic, adding that nothing stands in the way of the construction of the new Maksimir stadium.

“We think that the stadium can be built with private funds. We believe that the stadium can be built with sponsorship money, not with City money,” said the mayor.

The Prime Minister is also satisfied. “We can say that this is a historic day that solves an almost three-decade-old problem that stood in the way of the construction of a new stadium that Zagreb, the people of Zagreb and Croatia deserve,” concluded Plenkovic.