On Monday 25 November, Minister of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation Damir Habijan signed contracts on the design and construction of standardized modular annexes to Varaždin Prison and Lipovica-Popovača Penitentiary
The contracts were also signed by Željko Horvat, CEO of TEHNIX d.o.o. The EUR 4.6 million (VAT incl.) contract for the Varaždin Prison and the Lipovica-Popovača Penitentiary covers the entire process - from design and construction to obtaining the certificate of occupancy on a turnkey basis.
This is the first step of infrastructure investments in the comprehensive modernisation of the prison system, which directly addresses the problem of overcrowding the biggest challenge for the prison system at the moment.
On this occasion, the Minister pointed out the problem of insufficient accommodation units in the prison system for several years.
“At the moment, we are witnessing an increase in the number of persons in pre-trial detention for the criminal offence referred to in Article 326 of the Criminal Code relating to illegal entry, stay and movement in Croatia, i.e. illegal smuggling of persons. We are talking about almost 18 percent of the total number of persons deprived of liberty in the prison system”, Minister Habijan said.
For the first time in the history of the Croatian penal system, a contract for the construction of infrastructure involves standardised metal modular annexes to existing correctional facilities on a turnkey basis.
“We opted for modular construction because it is much faster than classic construction. This is a short-term solution to increase the capacity by 300 accommodation units, 150 in the Varaždin Prison and 150 in the Lipovica-Popovača Penitentiary. A long-term intention is to build three new prisons in addition to these two modular prisons”, Habijan said.
The Minister stressed that the construction of prisons was a necessity for not only the improvement of conditions for persons deprived of liberty, but also to ensure adequate working conditions for prison officers and the judicial police. The prison system in Croatia currently employs 1,584 judicial police officers, the highest number since 2014, when there were 1,617. A public competition for 156 new judicial police officers has been launched recently, and over 400 applications have been received.
After the signing of thec ontracts, the preparation of project documentation will begin, and the completion of works and the commissioning of new facilities is expected in the summer of 2026.
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