Hrpelje – Kozina approves concession for new kindergarten with private partner

The Občinski svet Občine Hrpelje – Kozina adopted on 17 September 2026 the Odlok o javno-zasebnem partnerstvu za projekt Izgradnja novega vrtca Hrpelje, which establishes the public interest in building a new kindergarten and sets the terms for granting a services concession. The act was published in the Uradni list Republike Slovenije no. 1460/2026 of 21 September 2026 (official reference EDA 2026-01-2120) and enters into force on the fifteenth day after publication. Under the DFBOT model the private partner designs, finances, builds, operates and finally transfers the building to the municipality.

The concession act rests on article 36 of the Zakon o javno zasebnem partnerstvu (Uradni list RS, no. 127/06), the Zakon o nekaterih koncesijskih pogodbah (Uradni list RS, nos. 9/19, 121/21 – ZJN-3B, 50/23 and 83/25 – ZOUL) and article 16 of the Statut Občine Hrpelje – Kozina. The public interest is grounded in the investment documentation and in the objectives of articles 4 and 10.b of the Zakon o vrtcih. The act, numbered 007-11/2026-1 and signed in Hrpelje on 17 September 2026 by the mayor, Saša Likavec Svetelšek, is a services concession: it covers the building and its operation, not the educational programme, which remains with the public institute designated by the municipality.

What the private partner must deliver

• Design documentation (PZI), construction of the kindergarten, construction and designer supervision, cadastre, PID and DZO documentation, and the use permit.
• Construction of the building with its external arrangement: access, parking, paved surfaces and green areas.
• Management and energy management, current and investment maintenance of the building, premises, installations, equipment and the entire plot, including the external arrangement, throughout the concession period.
• Insurance of the facility and guaranteed availability, with handover of the building to the grantor for the contractually agreed period.
• A building right established in favour of the concessionaire on municipal land; on termination the concessionaire must allow its deletion and transfer the facility free of encumbrances.

Risk allocation and financing

The concessionaire expressly assumes the risks of design, financing, construction and cost overruns, timely completion and obtaining the use permit, availability and quality of the building, service delivery, actual operating costs, energy use and loss of revenue where contractual standards are not met. The municipality provides a pre-determined fixed share of construction financing, in the scope set out in the public tender. The concessionaire is entitled to a user fee (uporabnina) only after the use permit is issued, the building is handed over and availability conditions are met; the fee is reduced or not paid at all when standards are missed, and delays caused by the concessionaire neither extend the end date nor generate compensation for lost revenue. The period of management, maintenance and fee payment may last at most 20 years from the contractually foreseen start of use.

Users, tender and supervision

• The priority user is the public institute providing preschool education in the municipality; other public institutes and associations seated in the municipality may use the facility with the grantor’s prior consent.
• Users may establish a council of users to monitor the concession and submit its assessment to the municipality.
• The public tender is run by an expert commission appointed by the mayor under article 52 of the Zakon o javno zasebnem partnerstvu; the municipal council’s consent is a condition for issuing the selection decision, and the notice of selection is issued by the director of the municipal administration.
• The municipality reserves the right to close the procedure without selecting a concessionaire if no bid is acceptable.
• The concessionaire must submit an annual report on the concession by 30 April each year, and the grantor’s bodies, possibly assisted by external experts, supervise performance.

The decision commits the municipal budget to a multi-year payment obligation and directly affects children and parents in Občina Hrpelje – Kozina, since the new kindergarten’s capacity and the cost of its operation will depend on the tender terms and on how strictly the availability and quality deductions are enforced over the next two decades.

Source: Uradni list Republike Slovenije, no. 1460/2026, 21 September 2026, section I, p. 1 (official reference: EDA 2026-01-2120).