Passengers in Croatia's capital Zagreb have a new travel option starting Thursday — an Uber ride.

Launching at noon local time, the service will initially only be available in its UberX variant, with licensed drivers working for the company as independent contractors. Per Uber's official page, the ride start costs 8 HRK ($1.2) with each additional kilometer costing 4 HRK ($0.6) and minute 0.5 HRK ($0.07). The minimum fee for a ride is 10 HRK ($1.5), and the cancellation fee is 15 HRK ($2.2).

The arrival of one of the world's most valuable startups in the country has been rumored since April, with talk intensifying after Uber opened a job listing for several managerial positions in Zagreb in July.

Still, it comes as some surprise, as many locals believed Uber would have a tougher time traversing Croatia's notoriously problematic bureaucracy and perceived resistance from local taxi services.

The president of the Radio Taxi Zagreb association Jozo Kovačević vowed in April to “fight with all we can” against Uber’s arrival, tportal.hr reported (link in Croatian).

Uber seems to have avoided these issues by working diligently and silently to make its service legal in Croatia. UberPop — a service that allows pretty much everyone who owns a car to be an Uber driver — is not available in the country, as it would likely be declared illegal.

But UberX, which only employs licensed drivers, is fair game. Netokracija (link in Croatian) reported that Uber was working closely with the city of Zagreb as well as Croatia's Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Finance prior to launching the service.

There might still be problems ahead. Mashable spoke to Saša Cvetojević, a Croatian entrepreneur who'll be Uber's Rider Zero in Zagreb, the first passenger and an ambassador for the service.

"Uber has grown beyond merely transporting people from place A to B. To be for or against Uber today means to be for or against new business models or preserving the status quo," said Cvetojević. "This is why Uber is a thorn in the side of everyone who wants to keep existing, often obsolete business models."

Cvetojević also hinted that Uber's media push in Zagreb will be slightly more low-key than expected due to Uber drivers' fear of revolt from local cabbies. "I'm not sure if it (the first ride) will be televised," he said.

Still, Uber's arrival in Croatia is an important step for the entire region, where many countries and cities are still waiting not only for Uber, but for a cheaper and liberalized taxi service in general.

"I'm sure that, when users see it's possible for Uber to start operating in tragically over-regulated countries like Croatia, they'll ask for it in surrounding countries as well," said Cvetojević.