The half-year financial report of the former media giant reveals revenues of just €144,000 against expenditures of nearly €600,000, while the skyscraper on Slavonska Avenue has been completely removed.
The company Vjesnik d.d. in liquidation recorded a total loss of €452,789 in the first six months of 2026, according to the half-year financial report published on the Zagreb Stock Exchange. Revenues for the period amounted to €143,557, while expenditures reached €596,346. The report arrives at a time when the last construction debris from the site of the former Vjesnik complex on Slavonska Avenue in Zagreb has been removed following the demolition of the legendary skyscraper, physically closing one of the longest-standing chapters in the history of Croatian journalism.
The revenues generated in the first half of 2026 derive almost exclusively from the sale of the company's remaining assets, through tenders conducted before the catastrophic fire that destroyed the Vjesnik skyscraper in November 2025. According to the interim report, it was precisely the fire that prevented the announcement of new tenders, further slowing down the asset monetization process. The largest portion of expenditures consists of the book value of the unamortized cost of the sold assets, which is a technical consequence of the liquidation process itself, not operational spending. Management notes that these figures are not comparable with previous periods because regular operations ceased on March 31, 2023.
The company's total assets as of June 30, 2026, stood at €2.18 million, a decrease of about €700,000 compared to the beginning of the year. All assets have been reclassified as current, in line with standards applicable to companies ceasing operations. Equity and reserves amount to €1.8 million, while short-term liabilities have been reduced to €356,713, dominated by deferred tax liabilities, provisions for litigation, and trade payables. Negative cash flow from operating activities in the first half-year was €317,919, meaning that funds from the account-on which about €1.8 million remained at the end of June-continue to flow out faster than they come in.
The company, which at its peak employed thousands of people, now has only five employees, who are handling the final administrative tasks as part of the liquidation process initiated in July 2022. Liquidation is the formal end to a story that began back in 1940. The last printed edition of the daily newspaper Vjesnik was published in April 2012, and accumulated losses along with the inability to adapt to the digital transformation of the media market ultimately led to the decision to shut down the company a decade later.
In parallel with the financial report, the complete demolition of the skyscraper took place in spring and early summer 2026, with over 4,500 cubic meters of debris removed from the site. The fire from November 2025, for which two 18-year-olds have been charged and whose trial is ongoing, not only destroyed the physical symbol of former media power but also, according to the report's data, directly slowed down the liquidation process by preventing new sales tenders. The Government of the Republic of Croatia, as the majority owner of the land, has announced a public architectural competition to define the future purpose of this attractive city location in the heart of Zagreb.
Each new financial report from Vjesnik d.d. in liquidation is shorter in content and smaller in figures, which in itself speaks to the progress of the process toward completion. While new architecture is being planned on Slavonska Avenue, fewer and fewer items remain to be recorded in the company's books. According to the current course, liquidation should be completed when the remaining assets are sold and all liabilities settled, but a specific deadline for the conclusion of the process is not stated in the available reports.
