FATE Assessment of military brownfields Osijek Baranja County

F.A.T.E.
From Army to Entrepreneurship
Action 3.4
Assessment of military brown-fields
Osijek Baranja County
PARTNER ORGANISATION
Partner institution:
Regional Development Agency of Slavonia and Baranja
Elaborated by:
Centre for Entrepreneurship Osijek
FATE – Assessment of the military brown-fields
Assessment of military brown-fields in Osijek Baranja County
The process of restructuring the Croatian Army started in 2002. Defence reforms in Croatia,
and generally in the Western Balkans, have been driven by external actors, such as NATO, the EU, the
US and European countries. National institutions played only a subordinate role in guiding reforms,
while few NGOs were involved in security matters and able to provide civilian expertise. The defence
reforms in Croatia were surely provoked by a high defence spending cuts and have resulted in a
significant downsizing and rationalisation of the military structures and personnel, which surely
contributed to the stabilisation of the wider region.
At the beginning of 1992 the Croatian government has granted the management and the use
of 511 barracks, warehouses, polygons, but also forests and meadows, to the Croatian Army. The
remaining number of ex-military sites (146) was transferred to the local and regional administrations
and to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Right after the end of the Homeland war, it became clear that
more than a half of military sites present an unnecessary cost. Ministry of Defence had only the high
maintenance and overhead costs that were for a long of time a heavy weight on a defence budget,
and by the same time a huge “dead state capital”. The Yugoslav Army use to hold the strategic
military locations in the cities, while the vision of the Croatian Army was to transfer the military sites
on the borderline of the urban areas. This has created a potential space for the economic
development in the cities. By the year 2009, the Croatian Ministry of Defence has transferred to the
Croatian State more than 200 military sites (out of 511), which were then sold, given in a concession
or converted. Last estimations indicate that only one third of total number of military sites is needed
for the functioning of restructured Croatian army system.
Defence reforms have also brought an absence of major unrest from discharged military
personnel and the denationalisation of armed forces. Furthermore, Croatia’s separated personnel
care and transition programme (SPECTRA) was well-designed and well-implemented, and was
successful in reintegrating discharged military personnel.
The bases for the actions were the several strategic documents brought on the national level:
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National Security Strategy of the Republic of Croatia (2002)
Strategic Defence Review (2005)
Long-term plan of development of armed forces of the Republic of Croatia for the period
2006 – 2015 (2006)
Long-term plan of development of armed forces of the Republic of Croatia is for sure the
most important document for the process of military brown-fields restructuring. It clearly states
which military sites are planned to be abandoned by the year 2015, and which sites are planned for
the conversion. Out of 24 military barracks and other sites planned to be abolished, 5 are based in
Osijek Baranja County.
These are:
1. Command Osijek
2. Barrack “Drava” (the remaining part), Osijek
3. Barrack “Dračice”, Đakovo
4. Barrack “Našice”, Našice
5. Barrack “Beli Manastir”, Beli Manastir
FATE – Assessment of the military brown-fields
Four, out of the five sites are still under the management of the Croatian Army (Barrack
“Drava” is transferred). Therefore all of the detailed information about the barracks is not available,
and is still considered to be the military secret. In the meantime from the elaboration of the Longterm strategy (2006), the Croatian government has formed a working group for the registration and
categorisation of the unperspective military real estates. The working group was formed in 2009 in
order to review the previously selected sites and to speed up the conversion and the transfer
process. Members of the working group are the representatives of the Ministry of Defence, Office of
the President, Croatian privatisation fund and Central State Administrative Office for State Property
Management. The work is still in progress and they have been re-evaluating the also the usage of the
4 remaining barracks in Osijek-Baranja County. Particularly the barrack “Dračice” (Đakovo) has
become, in its full size, a perspective site for the Croatian army. Moreover, in the last couple of
years, it has strengthened its military training programmes. The city of Đakovo, on the other hand,
has been actively seeking the possibilities of transferring the ownership of the Dračice barrack, but so
far all of its attempts were unsuccessful. The city of Osijek has also been actively seeking the
possibility to use the premises of the Command Osijek for its own purposes, as the present municipal
building is much too small. So far the process has not gone any further. The same situation can be
applied for Našice and Beli Manastir.
As for the examples of the good practice, there have been two transfers of ownership of
military brown-fields in Osijek Baranja County. The barrack “Gaj” (Osijek, centre) restructuring led to
the creation of TERA (Technology Development Centre Osijek) and the University Department of
Mathematics, Department of Physics and Department of Biology. Already mention barrack “Drava”
(Osijek) has been restructured into the University Campus.
FATE – Assessment of the military brown-fields
The reason for the transfer of ownership was the lack of space for the further development
of the University, whose buildings and premises have suffered a great deal of destructions during the
war period. Therefore the Croatian Government brought the decision to transfer the property of the
two military brown-fields to the University of J.J.Strossmayer in 1997. The initiative came from
Government of the Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, Osijek-Baranja
County, city of Osijek and from the University of J.J.Strossmayer in Osijek.
The ownership of the barrack “Gaj” (5.495,25 m2) was transferred to the University of
J.J.Strossmayer on September 04th 2001, after the lengthy procedure. Motive for the restructuring
was realization of the project – Set up of the Departments of Mathematics Physics and Biology. In
2002 the Senate of the University accepted the Program of Capital Investments that included the
restructuring of the former military barrack “Gaj”. The funds for the restructuring process had been
assured in the national budget, beneficiary being the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports and
the guarantor the University of J.J.Strossmayer Osijek. Reconstruction began in fall of 2001. In 2002
the Department of Mathematics has been put into action. The adaptation of former military barrack
was fully finished in December of 2003, when the Technology Development Centre starts with its
work. During year 2004 the remaining facilities have been fully equipped, and the Department of
Biology and Department of Physics started with the work in the academic year 2004/2005.
Restructuring of the former military barrack “Gaj” (Osijek)
FATE – Assessment of the military brown-fields
Barrack “Drava” (232.048,00 m2) was restructured in the second phase of the investment process. In
2005 the Senate adopted the II.Capital Investments Programme and the reconstruction into a new
University Campus began. The campus project has been realized in several stages: the student
dormitory was built in the first stage and then the space for the art academy was refurbished. This
was followed by renovation of the technical studies building which is a part of the Faculty of
Electrical Engineering. The current phase is marked by finalisation of the new Faculty of Agriculture.
Many other amenities and spaces for students have also been upgraded and equipped including,
inter alia, the building for the Teacher Training School and Faculty of Medicine, and some teaching
departments. Preparations are also made for construction of the new Faculty of Civil Engineering.
FATE – Assessment of the military brown-fields