On 22 December 2015, a report on the activities executed and planned as part of the preparations for the City of Rijeka’s candidacy for European Capital of Culture was presented to the City Council. The City Council unanimously supported this report with 34 votes in its favour.
The report was presented to the Council members by Ivan Šarar, Head of the Department of Culture, who said it was a summary of the activities that the Department and its external associates have been conducting in the past two and a half years. Although the project is managed by the City, care was taken to have all decisions verified by external teams during each phase. A public tender was also issued, in response to which 187 programmes were submitted. These were also evaluated by a new, independent team. The first bid book was submitted on time, and Rijeka passed the first round of the competition.
The second bid book has to be submitted by 10 February, upon which three members of the Commission will visit Rijeka. By late March, it will be known which Croatian city has been selected as the winner of the title European Capital of Culture for the year 2020.
Chris Torch, a man with a renowned international career who helped the Italian city of Matera win the title in 2019, is also involved in the preparation of the second bid book. If we are to become the Capital of Culture, Rijeka will, for the needs of managing the candidacy, together with the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County establish a company in which the City will hold two thirds of the shares. In that case, two, seven and ten million kuna will be, respectively, paid from the budget during the subsequent three years, while the total expenses for the operational part would amount to 10.3 million € for the seven-year period.
The Commission ˝criticised˝ us for being too modest when it comes to the City’s participation. ˝So, let’s be ambitious, let’s be optimistic and let’s support our candidacy˝ said Šarar, upon which the report was unanimously adopted.
