Politics

ZAGREB, 9 March 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday presented the nominated minister of construction, Ivan Paladina, in the parliament, and said that the candidate's experience and enthusiasm are supposed to be a useful contribution to his cabinet. "The government needs a man with the experience in the construction sector, project management, and real estate and with managerial and entrepreneurial skills so as to make the processes more dynamic," Plenković said at the joint meeting of the parliamentary committees on construction and the economy. Paladina, born in 1983, graduated from a faculty of economics and has also a postgraduate degree in…

March the 9th, 2022 - The Croatian EC request for the payment of the first tranche of cash amounting to a massive 700 million euros still hasn't been sent, it has emerged. As Ana Blaskovic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, despite announcements from the government that it intended to get it sent out by the end of February, this Croatian EC request still hasn't been submitted. This cash would be paid out by the European Commission (EC) from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. This Croatian EC request should finally be submitted over the next few weeks, when some more technical details are…

ZAGREB, 8 March 2022 - The parliamentary Opposition on Tuesday criticised the ruling majority's proposal to appoint Ivan Paladina the new Construction Minister, saying that he was close to Russian oligarchs, which made him vulnerable to blackmail from the very beginning. The Opposition also said that by nominating Paladina, the ruling HDZ was trying to dodge responsibility for the failed process of post-earthquake reconstruction. Sandra Benčić of the Green-Left Bloc told reporters that the latest nomination showed that PM and HDZ leader Andrej Plenković not only made bad personnel choices but that Paladina was in a clear conflict of interest because he…

ZAGREB, 8 March 2022 - Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman on Tuesday spoke with the leader of the Democratic Alliance of Vojvodina Croats, Tomislav Žigmanov, and the two discussed improving the status of the Croat minority in Serbia, the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry said in a press release. "Considering that Serbia is still not implementing the provisions of the bilateral agreement on the mutual protection of rights of the Croat minority in Serbia and the Serb minority in Croatia, the talks underscored the importance of continuing to work on improving the status of the Croat minority in…

ZAGREB, 8 March 2022 - President Zoran Milanović said on Tuesday that he had never heard of Ivan Paladina, the candidate for the new construction minister, but that he could see that he was close to Russian oligarchs and that he would prefer to see a politician or an engineer in that post. "The man has sizeable assets, which on the one hand deserves respect, but on the other hand, one always wonders how somebody's property was acquired, if they are not a top athlete or innovator but a broker," said Milanović. Commenting on the fact that the new minister was not a member of the…

ZAGREB, 8 March 2022 - On the occasion of International Women's Day on Tuesday, the chair of the Croatian Parliament's Gender Equality Committee, Marija Selak Raspudić (Bridge), announced a bill to improve the status of women on the labour market, while advocating prevention of domestic violence. "We need to work on equality in state and public institutions and review the job classification system and pay grades in this sector," Selak Raspudić told a press conference, adding that a plan for the real sector could follow after that. She warmed that women entrepreneurs are in a more difficult position than men on the labour market,…

March 8, 2022 - The government has made a decision that fixes the margin of oil traders and temporarily reduces excise duties on diesel and gasoline to mitigate rising prices. Thus, as of today, new fuel prices at Croatian gas stations are more expensive. You can follow the latest fuel prices on this page. The new price of regular diesel is now HRK 12.51, and Class Plus diesel HRK 13.56. Ordinary petrol, ie Eurosuper 95 now costs 12.18 kuna, while Eurosuper 100 costs 13.11 kuna. Recall, the government has made a decision which fixes the margin of oil traders and temporarily reduces…

7 March 2022 - The government on Monday decided to introduce temporary protection for refugees from Ukraine and Deputy Prime Minister Davor Božinović said the most important thing was to prepare the system well for a possible larger influx of refugees. "This is an unprecedented situation after the Second World War and thanks to the rapid reaction of the European Union and the activation of the temporary protection mechanism, the Republic of Croatia will take care of all displaced persons from Ukraine who express the wish to enjoy temporary international protection in our country," Minister Davor Božinović said at a government session.…

7 March 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Monday commented on a list of enemy countries released by Russia, which includes Croatia, and added that "if you're on that list, then you've pursued a good policy, you can be proud of that". He said that 1.8 million people had fled Ukraine to date and that according to estimates, the number would be higher and higher. Plenković reiterated that he supported Ukraine's EU path, adding that the method of accession required some time. "I understand that political desire, Croatia will definitely be a voice of support," he said, expressing some doubt whether all…

7 March 2022 - MP Nikola Grmoja of Bridge said on Monday the party refused a report on the number of signatures collected for a referendum against the national COVID-19 crisis management team due to a discrepancy in the numbers of submitted and entered signatures, but that there were still enough. "We refused this report because something is obviously wrong. According to their report, we have enough signatures for a referendum to be called but 10,000 signatures are missing. Only 397,000 were entered, while we submitted 409,000. It's not clear where the rest of the signatures is," he told the press.…