Inspectors found residents at the 'Mali Dvorac' nursing home in Nuštar in July, even though Delta drvo d.o.o. was prohibited from providing accommodation services by a ruling from October 2025. Residents were only relocated on July 24, 2026.
The nursing home for the elderly and infirm, 'Mali Dvorac' in Nuštar, continued to accept residents and provide accommodation services to elderly and severely ill adults, despite being prohibited from doing so by a ruling from the senior inspector of the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy as early as October 2025.
The Ministry confirmed this to Index.hr after a reader reported serious irregularities in the home's operations, including inhumane treatment of residents. The home operates through the company Delta drvo d.o.o., owned by Ruža and Drago Suton, and according to publicly available data, the company is under a bank account freeze.
An Index reader described the conditions in the home as catastrophic. "If you just came in front of that home and saw how it looks, everything would be clear to you. You can see its condition from the outside," he said. He added that there wasn't enough staff inside, and those who were working lacked adequate qualifications. "Inside, the situation was catastrophic. There wasn't enough staff, nor did they have adequate qualifications, and workers reportedly weren't paid regularly," he recounted.
On Google reviews, the situation is described even more vividly. "This home is the bottom of the barrel, horrible, pity anyone who ends up there, from neglect of residents to untidiness, terrible stench, cold, and I could go on until tomorrow, I can't say anything positive about it," wrote one anonymous user. The home is located at Križnog puta 6 in Nuštar, has been operating since 2020, and has 29 accommodation capacities.
Following a complaint, inspections were conducted by the labour inspectorate and the sanitary inspectorate of the State Inspectorate (DIRH). The labour inspector filed a criminal complaint due to suspicion of illegally concluding fixed-term employment contracts and preventing workers from taking annual leave. "Additionally, the employer was ordered, by an oral ruling recorded in the minutes, to provide workers with payslips or salary compensation slips of the prescribed content," DIRH stated.
The sanitary inspectorate found food past its expiration date and other hygiene irregularities. "It was also established that the entity did not take the necessary actions to prove the safety of the household water supply network," DIRH added. Consequently, the use of the unsafe food was prohibited, its destruction was ordered, and fines were imposed on those responsible. DIRH also notified the Independent Sector for Administrative and Inspection Supervision in Social Welfare at the Ministry of Labour.
It was precisely this sector that conducted an extraordinary and control inspection on July 6, 2026, and established that the company had not complied with the ruling from October 2025. "The company Delta Drvo d.o.o. from Nuštar, in its separate organizational unit Mali dvorac, was prohibited from providing social accommodation services to elderly and severely ill adults by a ruling from the senior inspector from October 2025," the Ministry stated.
Four days after the inspection, on July 10, 2026, the Vukovar-Srijem County, its Administrative Department for Health and Social Welfare, and the County Service of the Croatian Institute for Social Work were notified to arrange for the residents' relocation. "As of July 24, 2026, residents are no longer at the provider's location. A criminal complaint is being filed with the competent Misdemeanor Court for failure to comply with the inspector's ruling," the Ministry concluded.
The Mayor of Nuštar Municipality, Hrvoje Drinovac, told Index that the Municipality, although the owner of the building, had no knowledge of the irregularities. "A few days ago, a local resident whose family member was placed in the home contacted me and said the home was closing. No one approached us, and we had no knowledge of this, even though the Municipality owns the building," Drinovac said.
The home operated in the Khuen-Belassy Castle, a protected cultural property, for which the owners, according to the mayor, obtained the necessary permits from conservators and the relevant ministry. The Municipality now plans to terminate the lease agreement. "We will terminate the lease. We didn't give them any permits," Drinovac stated, adding that most residents were not from the Nuštar Municipality area but from surrounding places.
