The Zagreb City Assembly on Thursday voted in a 2021 budget revision, reducing the city budget by 0.27% despite criticism from the opposition HDZ party that the saving was nonexistent.

The draft budget revision was supported by 27 members of the Assembly, while 15 voted against.

The 2021 budget of HRK 14.035 billion was reduced to HRK 13.997 billion, a cut of HRK 37.47 million or 0.27%.

During the debate, HDZ deputies said no saving had been made at all, criticising the ruling parties for lack of courage, to which Damir Bakic of the Mozemo! party reminded them that the incumbent city government had inherited a situation in which the HRK 9.5 billion envisaged as expenses for 2021 had already been spent.

“You are lecturing us about not being able to save the money which was spent literally and figuratively by you,” Bakic said, adding that the present opposition parties had supported the budget for 2021 last December, rejecting all opposition amendments.

Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic called the HDZ members of the Assembly “accomplices in the former city government’s fiscal irresponsibility” for supporting an unrealistic budget.

“You pushed Zagreb into an even deeper crisis by giving the go-ahead to the former mayor (late Milan Bandic) for unrealistic spending,” Tomasevic said.

The City Assembly rejected all amendments to the draft budget revision.