As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of April, 2019, Chinese interest continues to grow as the Republic of Croatia and China opened a new, ambitious chapter of economic and trade relations on Wednesday, deepening their relationship even more after talks between the two prime ministers who both considered the talks to be a "fruitful turnaround".

Relations between Zagreb and Beijing initially reached a higher level after the Chinese company China Road and Bridge Corporation was chosen as the much anticipated Pelješac bridge builder.

The two countries readily signed six agreements, which cover the segments of rail, agriculture, digital technology and tourism. Four more will be signed on Thursday and Friday down in Dubrovnik at the 16 + 1 summit.

"We have signed a memorandum on a much more serious, transparent and easier cooperation between companies, on the transfer of capital from China to Croatia, as well as a two-way transfer, and the possibility of capital from Croatia being invested in China. This opens up the possibility of trust and a much stronger and more serious transfer, investing and manufacturing, and we've been able to talk about other large-scale structuring projects, especially given the fact that a Chinese company is building Pelješac bridge,'' said Croatian Economy Minister Darko Horvat for RTL.

He also noted that at this point in time, Croatia has a bilateral economic exchange with China which is somewhere close to the level of a billion euros, in a much larger deficit on the Croatian side.

Horvat also confirmed that Chinese companies are offering to be the ones to construct the Rijeka-Zagreb line.

"This project has to happen, the Chinese side has shown its interest. Whether that is going to come in the shape of a long-term concession agreement or in another model... Minister [Oleg] Butković is engaged in very intensive negotiations [on that matter] at the moment,'' stated Horvat.

In conversation with RTL, Horvat also revealed that they now have a clear signal that there is interest from the Chinese side to invest in Croatia's burdened shipyards, Uljanik and 3 Maj, in Pula and Rijeka.

"The real conversations are just starting, and I'm sure we will have some concrete figures tomorrow,'' he added briefly.

When asked whether or not Chinese could end up becoming the strategic partner needed to finally save Uljanik, the economy minister simply said that nobody was trying to hide the fact that the Chinese had been called upon.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and politics pages for more information on the blossoming China-Croatia relations, why some remain suspicious, why the European Commission has raised its eyebrows at the fact that a Chinese company is building a bridge funded primarily with EU money, and much more.

Croatian companies have a chance for further growth and more exporting should Croatia decide to deepen its business ties and cooperation with China, the country which is currently undertaking the mammoth task of constructing Pelješac bridge.

As Suzana Varosanec/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 31st of March, 2019, at the 8th Summit of heads of government of central and eastern European countries and China, which will be held from the 9th to the 12th of April in Dubrovnik, the "Dubrovnik Guidelines" document is expected to be adopted, which will lay out the activities in this format in the forthcoming phase.

The summit on the EU and China set to take place in the Belgian capital of Brussels on the 9th of April is expected with interest, and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang is coming to Croatia. There are bilateral talks between Keqiang and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on the agenda, as well as the signing of several already concluded bilateral agreements in Zagreb. In line with the things that are set to be dealt with and concluded at the summit, Croatia and China could strengthen their blossoming cooperation with as many as ten brand new agreements. Other major Croatian expectations for the strengthening of overall relations with China are also awaited with gritted teeth, with the greatest interest being expressed in the areas of infrastructure, tourism and SMEs.

After the construction of Pelješac bridge, which is being built by China's CRBC, will yet more new infrastructural advances, such as the modernisation of Croatia's railway system, soon come to pass? The plans are also for the Chinese and Croatian prime ministers to visit this huge construction site down in southern Dalmatia. The Chinese delegation will consist of around 250 members, and that isn't including the 300 business community representatives coming to the 9th business forum ''16 plus 1''.

A total of more than 700 entrepreneurs have been registered, and many opportunities are on offer to Croatian companies when looking at entering the giant Chinese market, meaning that the initiative is on them. B2B meetings can be arranged with the help of an application created by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), and as Croatia's SME coordinator, it will officially launch the 16 + 1 coordination mechanism for small and medium-sized enterprises. The major promise for Croatian companies which operate within a multitude of different sectors lies in exports when it comes to deeper cooperation in doing business with China.

Croatia's visibility for the Chinese is continually growing, by about fifteen percent annually, while the number of tourists from China has increased by an enormous 120 percent over the past two years alone. In 2019, a record 300,000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit Croatia, which is the fastest growing market in the whole of the Republic of Croatia.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for much more.

Click here for the original article by Suzana Varosanec for Poslovni Dnevnik

At the start of the enfeebled Uljanik's bigger problems, the Croatian Government's view was either restructuring or bankruptcy, and now there's no time to devise any sort of new solution.

As Marija Brnic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 28th of March, 2019, the government rejected the offer of strategic partner Brodosplit for Uljanik's restructuring, and thus, although the prime minister tried to avoid actually saying it, a process that would have a domino effect on all the companies operating within the Pula-based group system was launched.

The fact that there is no longer a strategic partner for Uljanik, which was the main argument for the postponement of the opening of bankruptcy proceedings in the previous proceedings on the 3 Maj shipyard and Uljanik's other companies, is changing the situation and it is now clear that no matter how much room the government initially left for some possible new solutions, the judge in Pazin doesn't have much of a choice today and will determine that the conditions for declaring bankruptcy for the Uljanik shipyard are now fulfilled. Such a decision automatically withdraws what the Rijeka court stated and opens bankruptcy proceedings for the 3 Maj shipyard.

All the speculations that there could be another possibility for Uljanik, for which Prime Minister Andrej Plenković left space in his statement, are empty stories, not only because of the fact that right at the very beginning of Uljanik's growing woes, the government's position was that the only possible scenarios for Uljanik's rescue were restructuring or bankruptcy, but also because of the fact that now, there is definitely no more time available to come up with a new solution for the burdened shipyard. When it comes to the question of the possibility of the continuation of shipbuilding in Pula and Rijeka as a whole, the key question remains the same - how many ships could buyers actually be found for, and then arrive other questions regarding financing through bankruptcy.

Two ships that are now in their final stages of construction in Pula were de facto detained over the past few days by the company's emotionally exhausted employees, and Uljanik's workers aren't finishing the job, because "other" workers, not from that shipyard, are working on Scenic's polar cruiser, while Jan de Nul is awaiting the government's decision to pay the requested difference of 22 million euros and to take over and finish it in Trieste, Italy.

From Pula, the request was for the completion of construction to be carried out in Uljanik, but the government didn't even discuss that yesterday, so it remains unknown as to whether the Ministry of Finance has worked to meet the necessary conditions, and if so, when it intends to pay any price differences and deal with the issue of the contracted vessels.

Although it's quite impossible to describe the situation surrounding Uljanik and Croatian shipbuilding as a whole as anything remotely positive, its rather lucky, analysts agree, that all of this happened and seems to have finally reached its peak in a year in which a surplus was recorded, but that doesn't minimise the issues Uljanik faces, nor does it even begin to confront the shipyard's overworked and well and truly underpaid employees.

The interesting thing which always happens in Croatia is the intertwining of business and politics. Just like with the messy Agrokor situation that has dominated the Croatian media for the past couple of years, there is always a political element, and if there isn't really one, someone will make you believe there is. The Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) has accused the Croatian Government of purposely trying to cause issues by using the Uljanik saga to its benefit, even claiming that the ''government's lack of action and indecisiveness'' is an attempt to destabilise Istria.

Make sure to stay up to date by following our dedicated business and politics pages for much more.

Click here for the original article by Marija Brnic for Poslovni Dnevnik

As tportal writes on the 24th of March, 2019, in just a few day's time, it will have been a full two years since the adoption of Lex Agrokor. Four and a half months since his extradition to Croatia after a year of fighting his corner in London, there are still no actual indictments against Ivica Todorić and his managers in the former Agrokor system. After having announced his desire to enter into politics, followed by a brief yet rather deafening silence, N1's guest was no less than the former owner of Agrokor, Ivica Todorić himself.

Asked to comment on the notion that he symbolised absolute power two years ago, built and owned the most successful company in the Balkans, and today he's a destroyed businessman awaiting his indictment, the ever smiling Ivica Todorić said he was in exactly the same form and acts very much in the same way as he did two, three, or four years ago.

''I'm doing more than I've been doing for the past forty years and I'm going to be honest, maybe I'm even happier today, a happier man than I used to be,'' a grinning Ivica Todorić told N1, saying that he was fighting for another thing now, and that is a fight against Croatia's corrupt system. He said that he was far from destroyed, quite the contrary.

For the last two years, the state has been preparing a trial against you, claiming that you committed crimes within Agrokor...

''I don't bother having anything to do with that, some accusations against me, what they're saying, and what they've tried to imply, it will be one serious legal document of this shameful Croatian state ... After thirty years, I left my company. In the last thirty years, everything remained within the company, all my mails, SMS's, accounts, all my transactions, all my contracts, everything remained within the company! Why not show us just one receipt?! What they did in Agrokor in a year, what crimes they were committing...'' questions Agrokor's former top dog.

Although DORH argues that the value of the company fell due to debts, Ivica Todorić claims that he has full evidence of the value of the company.

''What they made out of Agrokor today, I can't get 2.5 billion for the whole group. What destruction they've caused. When you talk about DORH and the process against me... Unbelievable. They claim I took some money. They know where the money went, where the accounts are. I took about 470 million euros in personal debt and gave it all to Agrokor. Agrokor was indebted to me, not me to Agrokor! And sure, it's like I've taken something...'' said Agrokor's ex boss.

He also said that Božo Petrov lured him to a meeting and he arrived like something out of the mafia in the night. "That was a weird meeting, I did't understand anything," Ivica Todorić said.

When asked if he was looking for money from the Croatian Government for Agrokor, he said: ''What do you mean? What money? Agrokor wasn't in trouble. It was only important for them that I came to be able to say that I came, so they could say that I was looking for something,''

He also said that none of the suppliers who worked with Agrokor had suffered any damage, but that was why he acted in the manner he did towards CNB/HNB's governer Boris Vujčić, about whom he had few nice words to say.

"He absolutely ruined me, he'd talked to some vulturous funds, gave them preferential information. You'll see what will still be done, what will be found out. That Vujčić has dragged Croatia to the bottom of the bottom. He put me, Agrokor, a thousand of our suppliers in position in which we had to pay more interest,'' said Ivica Todorić.

He also commented on the possible return of Antonio Alvarez III (Yes, that's really his name), who was among the very first to appear on Agrokor's then crumbling stage just after the passing of Lex Agrokor, allowing the government to intervene in the enfeebled company's affairs.

"This about them calling Mr. Alvarez and what they're doing, you can see that they're just lost, they don't know what they're doing, they don't know where they're going," he remarked.

Ivica Todorić believes that the Fortenova Group, which will soon be the ''new'' Agrokor, won't actually exist for years, nor will it be anything compared with Agrokor's entire business. He also believes that DORH is working to protect Andrej Plenković.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle, business and politics pages for more info on Ivica Todorić's entry onto the Croatian political scene and much more.

Independent parliamentarian Vlaho Orepić discussed various issues surrounding the Croatian political and social structure, claiming that ''the failure to properly deal with fake (fictitious) residences by the authorities is politically motivated and purposely left unresolved with the aim of influencing the outcomes of the upcoming elections,''

The fact that there is no real intention of the current authorities to remove fake residences from the electoral register and bring some order [to that situation] and accordingly, Croatia conducts a policy of banalisation when it comes to the conditions for obtaining Croatian citizenship were grounds for a press conference held by independent MP Vlaho Orepić.

On Tuesday, February the 5th, 2019, on the premises of the Croatian Parliament, Vlaho Orepić held a press conference on which he once again pointed out to the media and the public the problem of fake residence registration.

The fact that this issue remains unresolved means people who have their permanent residence in the Republic of Croatia are denied the right to elect their own authorities, and Croatian citizens living outside the homeland (whose voting rights are indisputable and come directly from what is written in the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia (Ustav Republike Hrvatske) are also deceived in this way.

The conclusion which has now been arrived to, given that a response from the relevant minister wasn't given even after the issue was brought up in parliament, is that there is simply no sincere and real intention of the current government to even try to tackle an extremely important issue so that honest elections can be carried out in the future. Orepić has therefore also called upon political and social structures to take a stance and engage with the aim of protecting legality of upcoming elections and democratic processes in the Republic of Croatia.

"What worries me, and what has inspired a series of both formal and informal reactions from me, even this press conference, is the fact that false (fictitious) residences are politically motivated and protected with the aim of influencing the outcomes of the electoral process(es) in the Republic of Croatia. My goal is to put an end to fake residence [registration] and the type of politics which permits that same cheating in the elections. My goal is fair elections,'' stated Orepić.

According to new statistics, Croatia has fewer than four million inhabitants (approximately 3.750 million), according to official data we can count almost 4,175,000 people with health insurance and as many as 3,746,286 voters. The fact that the number of voters isn't actually correct has been indicated by the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), published in July 2017, which states that just children under the age of fourteen alone which are registered amount to 600,000. It's totally clear that Croatia has no accurate and publicly available list of citizens and voters, nor does it have the political will to have this problem solved.

From the mentioned numerical indicators, as well as from the legal definition of residence, which reads as - residence is the place and address in the Republic of Croatia where the person permanently resides in order to exercise his/her rights and obligations related to living interests such as family, professional, economic, social, cultural and social other interests - it's clear that a lot of people who don't meet these conditions have been entered into the electoral register.

They are listed [on the electoral register] on the basis of their false registrations of residence in the Republic of Croatia and thus, in addition to voting and other rights, they enjoy economic ones which come with residing in the Republic of Croatia.

That this is politically motivated has also been indicated by the fact that the second day after Vlaho Orepić's dismissal as Minister of the Interior, the disclosure and deletion procedure of false residence registrations in the Republic of Croatia (mainly regarding citizens from neighbouring Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) was suspended. Activities related to the abolition of fake residences are a legal obligation of the chief of police administrations, but in spite of that fact, all of those who were engaged in carrying out this work were prevented from continuing with it.

While Vlaho Orepić was the Minister of the Interior, in just two and a half months, about 45,000 fake residence registrations were removed, and over the next four months that number rose to 75,000. The estimates are that at the present moment, there are at least 150,000 fictitious residence registrations in the Republic of Croatia, which brings a whole range of election process outcomes as well as the legality of the authorities at all levels into question.

"I hope all political, judicial and other social structures will realise the importance of this issue. From the government, the security services and the justice system, I expect an urgent reaction, just as was done with the recent attempt to try to discredit the Minister of Agriculture (Tomislav Tolušić). I expect from the umbrella of war veteran associations to stand up for the legality of the election process in the Republic of Croatia, especially with the engagement of Mr. Josip Đakić as a parliamentary representative and as a war veteran.

I expect the support of the President of the Croatian Parliament, Mr. Gordan Jandroković, and especially the two vice-presidents Mr. Milijan Brkić and Mr. Božo Petrov because they know very well what I'm talking about and what I'm fighting for. I also expect the support of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović to whom this issue must be in focus because it's in the interest of citizens, and all the citizens of the Republic of Croatia, and without whom we cannot even begin to talk about the rule of law as the basis for the survival of every single legal state,'' concluded Vlaho Orepić, MP.

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics page for much more.

ZAGREB, March 17, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković received in Essen on Saturday the Steiger Award in the Europe category and called for Europe's unity.

"I see this award also as a recognition to my fellow citizens in the building of a European Croatia," he said at the award ceremony, recalling that Croatia's EU journey was much harder than those of other central European countries.

Europe is facing the biggest challenges since World War II, he said. "Not even the biggest EU countries can deal with all the problems alone. That's why the key is in unity and that's the point of the European Union."

Plenković underlined the importance of the European perspective for Southeast European countries. "Europe should not neglect its neighbourhood. This especially refers to Southeast Europe because there the European Union membership is a motivating perspective, as shown by the European Union's attractiveness. That's also the European Union Croatia wants to push for while chairing the European Council in the first half of next year."

Plenković was presented with the award by North Rhine-Westphalia PM Armin Laschet, who underlined Plenković's commitment to the European idea.

"These days it doesn't just go without saying that someone stands for Europe. The European Union has many external and internal enemies. Only a few stand for Europe. One of them is Croatian Prime Minister Plenković," Laschet said, adding that former German Foreign Minister "Hans-Dietrich Genscher would have been pleased to see that a country he advocated is a recipient of this award."

Laschet recalled that 50,000 Croats live in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's largest state, and said they had contributed to the well-being in Germany.

"Croats have played an important role in this process and that's why the award for Europe is going into the right hands," he said, hoping the award would help Plenković deal with the challenges when Croatia presides over the EU early next year.

According to a press release from the Steiger Initiative, Plenković was nominated for the award by Laschet and German MEP Elmar Brok. "Honoured are people who demonstrate straightforwardness, openness and tolerance in their actions and thinking. They are people who are not deterred on their way and willing to take responsibility," the press release said.

Among the previous recipients are former Israeli President Shimon Peres, former Serbian President Boris Tadić, and Genscher.

More news about Andrej Plenković can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 17, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković met with North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Laschet in Duesseldorf on Saturday for talks, as announced before the meeting, that would focus on boosting economic relations and creating conditions for investing in Croatia.

"I'm glad that today we'll talk about the advancement of relations between Croatia and North Rhine-Westphalia, one of Europe's economically strongest regions, comparable with the Netherlands," Plenković said ahead of the talks.

He pointed to Croatia's cooperation with Germany's states, notably cooperation aimed at improving economic relations. "Today's visit is part of a policy which, apart from good relations with Angela Merkel's federal government, wants to strengthen relations with some German states."

Laschet underlined the importance of intensifying contacts with Croatia, notably ahead of the year in which Germany and Croatia will chair the European Council.

"Today we have the chance to talk about some bilateral matters. Croatia is a country which did a lot in a very short time to become a member of the European Union and is now preparing to enter the Schengen Area," he said ahead of the talks.

Plenković said they would also talk about European matters. Both were members of the European Parliament. "We understand well what is cooperation at parliamentary level and what is cooperation at government level."

Plenković said the Steiger Award he would receive in Essen for advocating European unity was "a recognition to Croatia as the newest member of the European Union." He said Croatia was making "a lot of effort to join the euro area soon too."

Laschet said "Croatia is a completely European country, which gives us hope now that members are leaving the European Union."

On Sunday, Plenković will meet representatives of the Croatian community in North Rhine-Westphalia and Croatian exhibitors at the Pri Wino wine fair in Duesseldorf.

More news about relations between Croatia and Germany can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 13, 2019 - Commenting on the Independent Democratic Serb Party's (SDSS) view of the situation in the ruling coalition, which that party made public recently, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that it had been his ambition since 2016 to try and reduce polarisation in Croatia and that he wanted each member of national minorities in Croatia to feel well.

Speaking to reporters on the margins of an event marking the 25th anniversary of the cooperation and partnership between Croatia and the World Bank, Plenković said that all outstanding issues would be discussed at a meeting to be held with SDSS leader Milorad Pupovac.

He added that his plan since 2016 had been to reduce polarisation in the Croatian society.

"Polarisation at the time was excessive for a society such as ours. I am working on reducing polarisation in my own way, gradually, but I don't have the impression that there is always understanding for what we do," said Plenković.

He said that at the time when he formed his government, he wanted all minority representatives in the parliament to be a part of the parliamentary majority. "That was my ambition because I think that it's good and healthy for our society. My hand is extended to all of them, I want them to live as befits the state of civilisation in 2019," he said.

He said that both this and last year the government had significantly increased funding to address minority groups' economic issues, housing construction and infrastructure issues.

"I want every Roma, Italian, Serb, Bosniak, Albanian, Czech, Hungarian and Slovak to feel well in Croatia. I want a society whose majority, because it is a majority, has the breadth, freedom and commitment to respect everyone living with us," he said, adding that not everyone on the political scene supported such a policy.

SDSS leader Pupovac has said on several occasions that his party is considering leaving the ruling coalition and last week he said that this had to do with hate speech that was being encouraged by the ruling structures.

At a party meeting held on Monday the SDSS decided that it would not leave the ruling coalition, authorising Pupovac and the party's parliamentary group to discuss the situation with the coalition partners.

More news about national minorities in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 11, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday he had rejected the resignation of Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Gabrijela Žalac after she hit a 10-year-old girl while driving without a valid driving licence.

Speaking to reporters in Zagreb, Plenković said that the minister's failure to renew her driving licence was not the kind of infringement that would require her resignation.

Žalac has offered her resignation after she hit a 10-year-old girl who was jaywalking in the eastern town of Vinkovci on Saturday. The girl was hospitalised and the minister visited her in the evening.

Plenković said he had talked to Žalac several times since the accident, adding that her offer of resignation was "a fair and moral move". "This could have happened to anyone. Her failure to renew her driving licence is not the kind of infringement for which I would ask her to resign from the government," the prime minister said.

He said that this was an omission and negligence on the minister's part, but not a criminal office. "It was a minor offence, the minister has paid the fine and will have her licence renewed," he added.

Plenković said that the most important thing was that the girl was recovering well and would suffer no permanent consequences of the accident.

Commending Žalac for her performance as minister, Plenković said that during her term in office Croatia had increased its EU funding absorption rate from 9 percent to 65 percent and that her ambition was to increase the rate to 85 percent by the end of the year.

Speaking earlier, Žalac said that she was shaken up by Saturday's traffic accident in which a ten-year girl was injured after being hit by the car driven by her. "I am truly shaken. I wouldn't want what happened to me on Saturday happen to anyone else. I was driving to a store when a little girl ran in front of my car. I hit her, I assisted her on the scene as much as I could, we called an ambulance and the police and the girl was taken to the hospital in Vinkovci and from there to the Clinical Hospital in Osijek," said the minister in her highly emotional address to the press in her ministry.

Commenting on her expired licence, the minister said she was not even aware that the licence had expired, admitting however that this is no excuse. "This isn't an excuse at all. My licence has expired on 9 June 2016," Žalac said. Her driving licence was issued in 2006 and the minister was confident that it was valid until she was scheduled for a regular medical examination.

"I only care that this little girl is fine, that she is recovering well and that everything will be all right. That is what is most important to me right now," Žalac reiterated several times.

She apologised to the Croatian public, saying that she was driving without a valid licence out of ignorance, reiterating however that this is no excuse.

More news about the incident can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 4 (Hina) - We need a Croatia to suit its people, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Monday at a conference "The Croatia We Need – Two Years On" organised by the Večernji List daily. Emphasising earnings, the president said that the aim should be for the average salary in Croatia to be 7,500 kuna.

Addressing the conference, the President assessed that Croatia was faring well on the international scene, however, not as well as we would like it to be when it comes to the development in the country, underscoring that Croatian citizens have to feel the improvement in their bank accounts. "They have to feel that they have a greater purchasing power, better standard but also a greater optimism and hope for better trends in a positive direction in Croatia," the President said.

She recalled that two years ago she warned of the problem of depopulation and that a lot of people interpreted that she was dramatising when she said that Croatia was in a "state of emergency," in that regard. "But the situation is indeed dramatic, because demography is the issue of all issues," she said, adding that citizens' mobility is a good thing but it's important for Croatia to create conditions for the return of people.

The current situation is better, she said and the results are being felt with regard to demography with a mild growth in the birth rate as a reflection of a slight improvement in optimism in one's one state.

"The simple fact that we are discussing this existential problem, and it is in focus of public debate and that we are moving away from ideological issues and discussing issues that concern our people - whether they will have a job, whether they will be paid and whether that will be enough to survive, whether they will be able to raise children and get a housing loan that they can afford - I believe that people are beginning to believe more in the state and that proves that the government and society are thinking seriously," she added.

It is necessary to stop the continuation of the negative population trend, she believes with tax policies in favour of investments and increased earnings.

Emphasising earnings, the president said that the aim should be for the average pay in Croatia to be 7,500 kuna. "That is the minimum that I came to through talks with people throughout Croatia when I asked them under what conditions would they remain in Croatia. That will raise the standard of the middle class in society on which the state's stability rests," she said.

It is essential, she considers, to limit fixed-term working contracts because last year as many as 25.3% of beneficiaries of the Croatian Pension Institute had fixed-term contracts which is among the highest rates in the EU.

"We need to explain what that means and how that negatively impacts existential security and mostly among young people at that, which is why many of them cannot plan their future," she warned.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Monday said that the government cannot set the minimum wage at 7,500 kuna by decree as that would mean the close of business for many companies and a loss of many jobs, adding that the situation in the country today was a "tiny bit better" than two years ago.

The prime minister said he did not consider the president's speech as criticism, noting that for the most part it commended the government. He added, however, that it was not possible to set the minimum wage at 1,000 euro by decree. "What happens then? Then all those employers who would have to pay that all at once would stop doing business or start firing," he added.

He stressed that his government was working. "GDP is growing, the debt is being reduced. We had a surplus, economic growth is founded on healthy foundations, both the average and the minimum wage are increasing, unemployment has fallen, employment is growing, absorption of European funds is increasing, strategic projects are underway and all that in the past two years in fact... and I wouldn't say that the situation is worse but rather a tiny bit better," he said.

More news about salaries in Croatia can be found in the Business section.