ZAGREB, February 20, 2018 - State Assets Minister Goran Marić said on Monday that disused state-owned property should be activated as soon as possible to boost growth and employment.
Speaking at a press conference, Marić said that the planned activation of state assets this year represented the investment potential of more than two billion kuna. He said he was pleased that the tenders for the hotel companies Hoteli Makarska, Jadran Crikvenica and Club Adriatic were successfully completed after new owners offered more money for the stakes in these companies than the asking price and offered large amounts of investment.
The Valamar Riviera hotel company and the AZ pension fund were selected in the bid for the 55.5% government stake in Hoteli Makarska. The pension funds Erste Plavi and PBZ Croatia Osiguranje purchased the 70.7% stake in Jadran Crikvenica and agreed to recapitalise this hotel company. The Swiss company Immo Invest Partner AG bought the wholly state-owned tourism company Club Adriatic.
"We are about to sign agreements with them and we believe that these are good deals and good investments for the communities where these hotels are located," Marić said.
He said that the asking price for the three companies was 390 million kuna in total and 420 million was received, adding that about a billion kuna worth of investment was planned.
Marić said that the sole bid for Hoteli Maestral was rejected because the government believed that for the 69% stake it could get more than the initial asking price of 114.2 million kuna that was offered. That's why a new call for bids will follow.
