Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević commented on the Government's decision to separate Velika Gorica, Ivanić-Grad and several other local self-government units from the Zagreb urban agglomeration. He stated that this change has neither a positive nor a negative impact on Zagreb.
Speaking at a regular press conference on Tuesday, Tomašević emphasised that Velika Gorica, given its population size, has valid reasons to become the seat of its own urban agglomeration. He recalled that Velika Gorica is the sixth-largest city by population in Croatia and that there are many smaller cities that serve as seats of urban agglomerations in the country.
He warned that the capital cannot be viewed in isolation from the surrounding area, citing transport, education and environmental protection as examples. "We cannot look at the City of Zagreb in isolation from the Zagreb ring," Tomašević stated. He also highlighted the level of average salaries in Zagreb County compared with the rest of Croatia. He considers it important to continue good cooperation with Zagreb County, as well as with other cities and municipalities in the Zagreb surroundings, and emphasised the importance of cooperation with Zagreb and Krapina-Zagorje County, which is part of the Zagreb Urban Agglomeration.
The Government adopted a decision on 9 October whereby Velika Gorica leaves the Zagreb Urban Agglomeration and becomes the centre of a new urban area. The new urban area, alongside Velika Gorica, includes Ivanić-Grad and the municipalities of Kravarsko, Orle, Pisarovina, Pokupsko and Rugvica. A new composition for the Zagreb Urban Agglomeration was also established, which will henceforth include 24 cities and municipalities. The Zagreb Urban Agglomeration was established in 2016 and previously included 30 local self-government units, among them Velika Gorica and several surrounding municipalities.
Commenting on the decision, Tomašević said: "This is a Government decision and the City of Zagreb itself defines what will be the Urban Agglomeration of the City of Zagreb and which local self-government units in our surroundings we will include in it."
In response to questions about waste management, Tomašević said he was not aware of any significant problems in the recycling yards system and expects that any issues in certain recycling yards will be quickly resolved. He noted that it is possible that occasional delays in waste collection may occur, pointing out that there are a number of external processors in the waste management system. "I believe that more than 400 tonnes of waste have been transported from the recycling yards in just the past week," he stated. Asked about the temporary suspension of television collection, he replied that, to his knowledge, this should last a very short time. Jutarnji list reported that in recent days, residents have encountered problems when disposing of various types of waste at Zagreb recycling yards, including bulky waste and construction rubble.
