On July 2, 2025, the Central Agency for Financing and Contracting of EU Programs and Projects (SAFU) unilaterally terminated all contracts with the company Optix Infrastructure. HAKOM, as the national telecom regulator, announced the decision, which concerns funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan under Call C2.3. R4-I1 Implementation of Projects under the Framework National Program for the Development of Broadband Infrastructure in Areas Without Sufficient Commercial Investment Interest.
Optix Infrastructure was engaged to carry out works under the national program for developing broadband optical internet infrastructure in commercially non-viable areas. The value of the previously contracted projects amounted to almost €100 million (precisely €95,536,942.62). The project targeted so-called "white areas" where telecom operators have no commercial interest.
According to the signed contract, Optix Infrastructure was supposed to be the contractor in 17 cities and municipalities in northern and central Croatia. The terminated contracts were tied to broadband infrastructure development projects across the country, including locations such as Zlatar, Vidovec, Beretinec, Gornji Kneginec, Sveti Ilija, Duga Resa, Karlovac, Sisak, Ozalj, Lepoglava, and others. SAFU made the decision at the beginning of this month, allegedly without consulting any of the involved parties.
As a result, local governments are now left to independently implement and finance broadband internet projects from their own budgets, having lost EU funds that had already been approved but not utilized.
On its website, Optix Infrastructure had previously claimed that “OPTIX Infrastructure d.o.o. is the leading private initiative for expanding the fiber-optic network in Croatia. By 2026, we will connect more than 200,000 households and businesses with high-speed internet. In this way, we are ensuring a digital future for people in rural regions, communities, and cities. We guarantee reliability and speed because we build at the speed of light.” None of that will now happen.
SAFU Pressed "Delete" on the Digital Future – But Who Will Be Held Responsible for the Optical Blackout in 17 Municipalities?
While Europe and the developed world are rushing toward a gigabit society and artificial intelligence becomes a standard tool in business, Croatia has just shot itself in the foot—not once, but seventeen times. The news that SAFU, the agency responsible for EU projects, has terminated as many as 17 contracts for building optical infrastructure is not merely bureaucratic trivia. It is a first-class fiasco and a terrifying image of the impotence of a system that should be the engine of our digital transformation.
For the residents of Karlovac, Sisak, Vrbovec, Kutina, and a dozen other areas, this is a message: forget about working from home with a decent connection, forget about attracting digital nomads, modern agriculture, or any form of business that requires more than a basic internet connection.
Optical fiber is not a luxury. Today, it is what electricity was a hundred years ago—a fundamental prerequisite for life and work. Without fiber infrastructure, talk of digitization, Industry 4.0, smart villages, and a competitive economy becomes empty rhetoric. It is the circulatory system of the modern economy—and we have just cut it off at 17 key points, precisely in the places where it is needed most—areas ignored by commercial operators.
The key question arises: how is it possible that a system allows a project of national strategic importance, financed with hard-won EU recovery funds, to collapse entirely? Where was the oversight? Did anyone monitor implementation, or did everyone wake up only when it became clear that the optical rollout would not happen?
The contract termination may sound like a decisive move, but it is in fact an admission of defeat.
What follows is the worst aspect of Croatian bureaucracy: years of waiting. New tenders, appeals, new procedures... if even possible, since this concerns money from the Recovery and Resilience Facility. In the meantime, the digital divide between urban centers and these “abandoned” areas will widen into a chasm. Children in these regions will not have equal education opportunities, entrepreneurs will be unable to compete, and young people will have yet another reason to leave.
This is not just a failure of one company—Optix Infrastructure. Clearly, they failed spectacularly. This was not a €9,000 contract—it was a nearly €100 million project. They even claimed they would invest just as much of their own funds.
Ultimately, this is a failure of a state that swears by the digital future but cannot even ensure its foundation. The question hanging in the air—and which the citizens of Sisak, Ogulin, Zlatar and others are waiting to be answered—is: who will be held accountable for this digital darkness?
HAKOM Not Involved in the Tender Process
While ICTbusiness.info awaits responses from SAFU, the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Optix Infrastructure, and its owner Meridiam Eastern Europe regarding the failed €100 million contract for optical infrastructure, the Croatian telecom regulator HAKOM has responded.
“We regret the outcome with the contract termination, but we believe SAFU had valid reasons due to unmet contractual obligations. HAKOM did not award this grant nor was a signatory to the contract, and we do not have insight into the contractual terms. We suggest directing all questions about the termination and EU funds to SAFU,” stated HAKOM.
As a reminder, SAFU unilaterally terminated all contracts with Optix Infrastructure, which was supposed to build telecommunications infrastructure. As a result, Croatia lost nearly €100 million earmarked for fiber network development from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The contracts involved work in 17 cities and municipalities in northern and central Croatia, including Karlovac, Sisak, and Duga Resa. Local governments now face the challenge of funding these expensive projects on their own, without the previously approved EU funds. SAFU made the termination decision on July 2, 2025, reportedly without prior consultations. The plan by Optix Infrastructure to connect over 200,000 households with high-speed internet by 2026 will not be realized.
SAFU Confirms the Money is Lost, Seeks Alternative Funding
In a direct response to ICTbusiness.info regarding the terminated contracts with Optix Infrastructure, SAFU stated that, given the importance of the investments, they are working to secure alternative EU funding sources to successfully implement the broadband infrastructure development projects.
They also clarified the origin of the issue, explaining that after the selection process in a restricted call for non-refundable grants (C2.3. R4-I1 Implementation of Projects under the Framework National Program…), 32 grant agreements were signed to reduce the digital divide by increasing national broadband coverage in commercially unattractive areas by 2026.
Of these 32 contracts, 17 were signed on April 14, 2024, with Optix Infrastructure—not as a contractor, but as a beneficiary. Reports submitted by the beneficiary indicated continual delays in project implementation, especially in signing contracts with contractors.
“Since these delays jeopardized the contractually defined deadlines and overall implementation of the broadband infrastructure projects, after several written warnings and extensive communication with the owner, MERIDIAM EASTERN EUROPE, and after consulting with competent authorities, the contracts were terminated. In fact, a formal request for termination was submitted by Optix Infrastructure itself, acknowledging lack of progress,” SAFU told ICTbusiness.info.
They stressed that under the terms of the grant agreement, project implementation is the sole responsibility of the Beneficiary, even when working with partners. Following termination, the Beneficiary is no longer entitled to receive grants and must return any received funds.
Responsible Ministry Now Seeks Alternative Funding
In response to ICTbusiness.info, the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure noted that it is now focused on securing alternative EU funding to ensure the projects can be carried out. The Ministry confirmed that investment under measure C2.3.R4-I1 of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan targeted broadband infrastructure development in commercially unattractive areas. Following the public call, a total of 32 contracts were signed—21 in April 2024 and the rest in early 2025.
They explained that SAFU, which oversees NPOO implementation, had informed the Ministry that Optix Infrastructure failed to sign procurement contracts with selected bidders, which were essential for completing the project and achieving its goals by the June 26, 2026 deadline. “Given the importance of the investment in expanding national gigabit broadband in underserved areas and achieving NPOO goals, all relevant institutions—Ministry of Finance, SAFU, and our Ministry—began intensive talks with the founder of Optix Infrastructure to salvage the signed grant agreements,” the Ministry stated.
Since there was virtually no progress in implementing planned activities or fulfilling contractual obligations, and even after warnings and additional efforts, Optix Infrastructure requested contract termination in June 2025, citing inability to fulfill obligations. SAFU officially terminated the agreement in July. This ended any possibility of co-financing through the NPOO due to program deadlines.
Optix Infrastructure Must Return Nearly €652,000
In a follow-up response to ICTbusiness.info, SAFU confirmed that Optix Infrastructure must return the funds it already received from the NPOO.
Under the contract, if terminated, the Beneficiary forfeits the right to further disbursement and must return the received funds. SAFU confirmed that the company must repay €651,997.52.
As previously stated, the termination resulted from failure to meet contractual obligations. Due to the importance of these investments, efforts are underway to secure new EU funding sources.
To recap: On July 2, 2025, SAFU unilaterally terminated all contracts with Optix Infrastructure. These were strategic projects in so-called "white areas"—regions of Croatia where telecoms have no commercial interest—totaling nearly €100 million. Optix was to implement projects in 17 cities and municipalities, including Zlatar, Vidovec, Karlovac, Sisak, Ozalj, Kutina, Lepoglava, and others.
Local communities, who were not timely informed, now face the loss of access to fast internet infrastructure, and the projects will remain unfinished unless alternative funding is secured. HAKOM confirmed it had no role in the contracts or fund distribution. The responsibility rested solely with SAFU and Optix.
Until recently, Optix Infrastructure promoted itself online as the leading private initiative for fiber network development in Croatia. That digital future is now in jeopardy. The projects that were supposed to bring digital transformation to rural and underserved areas have collapsed. Croatia has lost a critical foundation for a gigabit society, and the consequences are serious and long-lasting.
Without fast internet, these regions cannot develop a digital economy, attract nomads, modernize agriculture, enable remote work, or provide quality education—fiber is not a luxury, but a basic requirement for equal development. Unfortunately, neither Optix Infrastructure nor Meridiam responded to ICTbusiness.info’s inquiries, despite the major problem now created.
According to sources in the telecom market, the failure resulted from gross negligence, and some even argue it's fortunate they didn’t get contracts exceeding €230 million. Public questions are being raised about oversight, accountability, and institutional capacity for EU project implementation. Contract termination may sound resolute, but it is an admission of defeat.
SAFU noted that project implementation faced significant delays in procurement. After multiple warnings—and a termination request from Optix itself—the contracts were canceled. The Ministry confirmed that efforts are ongoing to rescue the project through alternative EU funds. Ultimately, the question of responsibility remains—not just corporate, but institutional.
