Zagreb Mayor, Tomislav Tomasevic, announced on Thursday that 414 jobs would be cut at the city's utility company Zagreb Holding so far, and that another 200 or so surplus jobs are expected to be determined at Holding's subsidiaries by the end of the year.

“As announced, 700 workers will be made redundant in total, including Holding’s subsidiaries such as municipal companies for water management, gas management, and housing sector, by the end of the year,” Tomasevic told reporters.

He announced that the financial situation of the city-owned conglomerate would be published “soon” as part of the official report for 2020 and 2021, and added that layoffs, reassignment of employees, and voluntary retirement would save about 80 million kuna in budget.

The unions, who oppose the sackings, handed out leaflets outside the city offices on Thursday ahead of a meeting of the City Assembly. Even though the process involving unions and city administration to determine redundant jobs is nearing completion, the unions say they want the situation to be “taken back to the drawing board,” and for a job plan to be defined first.

Zagreb Holding compiled a list containing the names of 414 redundant workers and sent it to state employment service. The unions said that those workers would be sacked by mid-May, which is the legally prescribed deadline after the employment service had been notified.