Dogan and Odvorčić about the market in Branimirova: ‘It’s a show, they have a finished project in their drawers’

“Zagreb’s markets have never been just places where you buy something on the way. They are part of the everyday life of the city, a place for meetings, conversations, and trust between producers and citizens. The Branimirova market has existed since the thirties of the last century and was an important place for supplying the city fresh, home-made food,” said Dogan at a press conference at the Branimiriva market.

She said that the City must stop spending money on endless project announcements and start solving real problems on the ground.

“Markets need to be arranged, maintained and brought back to life, because without lively neighborhood markets, the city is slowly losing what makes it a city. If we lose the markets, we have lost a part of Zagreb,” said Dogan.

Ivka Odvročić she said that “once the strongest and liveliest market in the city, Branimirova, was the heart of the neighborhood for 90 years, and today the picture is completely different because an important element of the local community has been destroyed”.

“The renovation project of Branimir’s market is just another promise of the city government, even though they have a ready-made project for the improvement of the market in their drawers. Where is the project for the Dolac market, Dubrava, what about the completely dysfunctional Vrapča market, which is gaping empty most of the year?

Experience with past plans and unfinished projects clearly shows that promises remain just that — promises because we have visible evidence in the renovation of the Sports Center that is standing, Schlosser’s stairs that are unfinished or the escalators in the Importanne Center.

Criticisms of the city government regarding the state of the markets were joined by the councilors in the Podsused-Vrap neighborhood Marijana Bilić Rakvin (FOKUS) and councilor in the City Council of the fourth quarter of the city of Vedran Jerkovi. (FOCUS).

Mayor Tomislav Tomašević recently presented the project of the complete revitalization of Branimir’s market, which will cost around 15 million euros. The works should start at the beginning of 2028 and end at the beginning of 2029, and in addition to the sales function, there will also be restaurants and other additional facilities, he announced.