Meet Croatia’s new PuRE-net representative: MPGI

The Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets, Croatia - Ministarstvo prostornoga uređenja, graditeljstva i državne imovine (MPGI)

The Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets is a central administrative body in the Croatian Government. The scope of the Ministry is defined in the Act on the Structure and Scope of State Administration Bodies (Official Gazette No. 85/20), which establishes ministries, state offices, and other administrative bodies, defines their specific authorities, organizational structure, and scope of work, and ensures accountability, efficiency, and legality in public administration. The Ministry conducts administrative and other affairs related to areas of physical planning, construction, housing policy, energy efficiency and state assets. It also participates in preparing and implementing programmes financed from EU funds as well as other forms of international assistance in the aforementioned areas under Ministerial authority.

The Ministry employs around 800 people over 15 central directorates and 3 small district offices.

The Ministry's mandate covers several critical pillars of national development: Physical Planning (regulating the use and protection of land as a limited national asset through spatial plans and monitoring systems); Construction (overseeing building permits, standards, and the implementation of the Building Act); State Assets Management (governing the disposal and use of real estate and other assets (i.e. seized and confiscated assets) owned by the Republic of Croatia.); Housing (developing housing policies); Energy Efficiency, Resilience and Recovery (leading the energy renovation of buildings and implementing self-sufficiency strategies, as well as the overall post-earthquake reconstruction).

The Ministry is currently focused on a comprehensive reform package aimed at resilience, recovery, sustainability, and real estate management efficiency: 

·         Post-Earthquake Reconstruction: Ongoing oversight of reconstruction efforts in Zagreb and Sisak-Moslavina county following the 2020 earthquakes.

·         Housing Policy: Implementation of the new legislative package that mandates the territorial planning of fosters affordable housing.

·         Property (real estate) and movable assets in the ownership of the Republic of Croatia management Strategy for the period 2026 -2035: Implementation of strategic measures approach leading to boosting assets investment potential and unlocking development projects on the assets in state ownership, with the ultimate aim of achieving the optimized and economical portfolio of real estate and movable assets owned by the Republic of Croatia, which encourages sustainable growth and development, promotes social welfare and protects national interests.

·         Digitization: Expansion of the Physical Planning Information System (ISPU), including modules like e-Permits and e-Plans to simplify administrative procedures.

With respect to the authority of managing the real estate and movable property owned by the Republic of Croatia, the Ministry is entrusted with managing approx.  600 million m² of various property items (i.e. apartments, office premises, residential premises, land - construction plots, other buildings).

The Ministry continues developing and translating the good practice to meet the efficient, socially responsible and sustainable development-oriented portfolio management. This also implies professional collaboration and cooperation with domestic and international institutions and networks. As a formal member of PuRE-net, the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets remains committed to being present and actively involved in PuRE-net annual conferences and other initiatives of the network.

We look forward to our continued partnership.

Warm regards,

Sanja Bošnjak, State Secretary

Ms Bošnjak introducing MGPI at the 2025 Annual Conference (Frank van Beek Fotografie)