This marked the completion of the latest section of the riverbank embankment in Lower Town.
The promenade was inaugurated by Osijek Mayor Ivan Radić and Defence Minister Ivan Anušić, as the prime minister's envoy.
At the opening, Radić highlighted that connecting the promenade, one of Osijek’s landmarks, had been the dream of many generations of Osijek residents.
“This significant project was done in collaboration with Croatian Waters. In addition to the embankment, we gained pedestrian and cycling paths, a green belt, benches with backrests, and everything will be enhanced with 157 new trees,” Radić said.
He announced a new major project, again in collaboration with Croatian Waters, the continuation of the promenade for another four kilometres at a cost of €20 million. The promenade is currently 10.5 kilometres long.
Anušić announced the construction of a new Clinical Hospital Centre, saying that processes for public procurement and securing funding are under way.
He recalled that Osijek was administratively united as a single entity on 2 December 1786, a date celebrated as Osijek City Day. He said today’s date also deserves a place in the city's history, as the promenade has once again united Lower Town, Upper Town, and the Fortress.
The director-general of Croatian Waters, Zoran Đuroković, noted that work began in 2004 on the most challenging part of the embankment.
“It’s been 20 years since we started stabilising the riverbed and bank, and through this corridor, we also laid Osijek’s northern sewage collector, improving water drainage,” he said, adding that the investment in the embankment has strengthened flood defenses, leaving no weak spots.