Published: Građevinar 78 (2026) 4
Paper type: Original scientific paper
Download article (Croatian): PDF
Download article (English): n/a

Management of infrastructure projects in the Republic of Croatia – Analysis of the organisational environment and project delivery performance

Infrastructure projects support the fulfilment of society’s most fundamental needs (e.g. transportation and water supply) and constitute an indicator of economic competitiveness. Globally, infrastructure investments amounting to approximately EUR 82 trillion are projected by 2040. This research analyses the organisational environment and project delivery performance based on a sample of fifty infrastructure projects in the Republic of Croatia, with the aim of addressing the lack of research in this field. The results indicate that Croatia is currently undergoing a major investment cycle, with emphasis on transport and municipal infrastructure, driven by co-financing from EU funds. The organisational environment is complex in the majority of projects, while management models remain relatively traditional. Cost overruns are present in 58% of projects, whereas schedule overruns occur in as many as 84% of projects. The construction phase is frequently extended by more than 20 % beyond the contractual duration. Social infrastructure projects demonstrated weaker cost performance compared to civil infrastructure projects, with overruns often exceeding 20 % of the contract value; this issue will be investigated in greater detail in future research. Given the importance of critical infrastructure for the development of the Republic of Croatia, public contracting authorities and other key stakeholders should address challenges such as delays, budget overruns, and the frequent use of traditional procurement models. Possible starting points include innovative administrative frameworks and procurement models analysed in this paper, whose implementation has not yet been recorded in Croatia.

LICENCE:

This paper is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.