September 14, 2022 - The Minister of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, Marin Piletić, was a guest on Croatian Radio's show "A Sada Vlada”, where he discussed the government measures of help for the upcoming winter, as well as the changes to the Labour Act.

As Poslovni writes, he commented on the Government's package of measures to help businesses and citizens.

“Part of the package encompasses measures from our department, but the largest part is concerned with HEP, where the government has enabled many to pay a price that is not market but artificially created. A good number of entrepreneurs pay the price for electricity that households do. Also, all social care institutions from the category of entrepreneurship will pay for electricity like households, Minister Piletić said.

He pointed out that there is no category that they did not include, from farmers, fishermen, students, beneficiaries of child benefits, pensioners...

“When it comes to pensioners, the Government has intervened for the third time in just a year and a half with a one-time cash supplement for those with lower monthly incomes. Not only did we raise the grade level, but we also increased the pension threshold that can receive a one-time supplement. Also, one of our goals was to raise the lowest pensions by three percent from January 1, 2025. By intervening in the final bill, we made it so that the percentage increase of the lowest pensions does not wait for 2025, but starts on January 1, 2023, he said.

Measures for the unemployed

He added that they included the unemployed for the first time.

“Those who were on the labour exchange before September 1 will receive a quarterly cash supplement of HRK 250 in the next three months. It has been shown that the government intervenes at the right time, that the package is strong and comprehensive, and most of all fair. We must protect all categories of citizens, especially those with lower incomes”, he emphasized.

When asked if he expects an increase in the number of unemployed since the tourist season is coming to an end, Minister Piletić said that the number of unemployed increases slightly after each tourist season, but that they do not expect the number to grow alarmingly.

“We are at record low unemployment rates. The number is around 110,000 registered. This is significantly less than at the beginning of this government's mandate”, he said.

He also referred to the amendments to the Labour Act.

“The percentage of workers who work on a fixed-term contract is decreasing from year to year, which we are satisfied with, we have reached a kind of European average, but we still have a large number of short-term contracts. That is why we are introducing the novelty of limiting fixed-term contracts to a maximum of three years and a maximum of three contracts”.

“He pointed out that one of the key innovations is platform work”, i.e. work from home.

“The employer can come to the employee's home and see what kind of conditions he is working in, with prior notice and the worker's consent”.

“There was a proposal that there be no notice period or severance pay for workers over the age of 65 and 15 years of service unless the worker and the employer agree otherwise. Here we wanted to encourage employers that after reaching the age of 65 if the worker wants to stay working and meets all the conditions for a pension, that the employer is not obligated to pay severance pay. Someone who fulfils the conditions for a pension will not be neglected, but will receive a pension and then the employer is not obliged to pay severance pay. This way, we stimulate both the employer and the employee, so that if they wish, they can stay longer in the world of work, but we have left it up to the employer and the employee to agree”.

Increasing wages in the public sector

Minister Piletić said that the negotiations have not started yet, and that at the next government session, he will appoint negotiating committees on behalf of the government, for both state and public servants and employees.

“We want to react and increase the salary base in both state and public services, following the situation of economic growth and filling the budget. Considering the autumn package, there is a lot of pressure on the budget, but I believe that in negotiations and dialogue we will find the best solution that would show that we want to increase the base”, Piletić pointed out.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Lifestyle section.

September 1, 2022 - Citizens of the Republic of Croatia are not used to a high level of political culture, honesty, and truthfulness. While in the normal world politicians resign even for the smallest offenses or breaches of duty, in Croatia even those who are proven guilty should be forced out of their positions. Political responsibility and self-criticism simply do not exist. As the INA case unfolds, this becomes more and more apparent.

As Index writes, some statements are too much even for Croatia. It is one thing to cover one's ears, remain silent, and not admit responsibility for certain failures, and it is quite another to claim that these failures are proof of the abilities, moral qualities, and work of those who are responsible for them.

Plenković says that he should be congratulated after the theft of the century

This is what Andrej Plenković said at the press conference after the coalition meeting of the ruling parties where the INA case was discussed: "The key message is that the institutions of the Croatian state, rather the government, were the ones who discovered this case of abuse, not the police or the judicial authorities, but the Office for the Prevention of Money Laundering, a department within the Ministry of Finance". He added that the opposition, instead of demanding elections, should - congratulate the government.

But the facts do not support his arrogant statements. Not only did the government not detect the theft of the century, but it also directly facilitated it. This is the real truth, and it is not difficult to prove it, no matter what Plenković arrogantly claims.

Plenković and the HDZ government directly appointed the INA Administration, at which he is now theatrically "furious"

First of all, the Prime Minister, who claims to be furious with the INA Board, should be reminded that he appointed the people who make up the Croatian quota. According to the agreement, Croatia has the right to three members of the INA Management Board, and they are appointed by the government.

In 2020, Plenković, i.e., the government, appointed Croatian members of the Management Board, with whom the same Plenković is now theatrically "furious". On March 31 of that year, a meeting of the Supervisory Board of INA was held, where new members of the company's Management Board were appointed at the proposal of the government, led by Andrej Plenković: Barbara Dorić, Darko Markotić, and Niko Dalić.

They were the replacement of the previous members, who were also appointed by the HDZ government in 2011, and the prime minister and leader of the HDZ at that time was Jadranka Kosor.

If the Administration appointed by Plenković had done its job, there would have been no theft

If the Board had done its job the case wouldn’t exist, and the Board was appointed by Plenković himself. Admittedly, he only replaced the former HDZ members with a new set, except for one man. That is Niko Dalić, who has been on the INA Management Board for more than a decade. Jadranka Kosor appointed him there in 2011.

If that name doesn’t ring a bell,  remember who managed Agrokor during its collapse and who the ringleader was of the Borg group. For her "services", she was awarded the position of president of the Podravka Management Board in February of this year, which was personally advocated by Plenković. She was even at his place for a kind of job interview, which the media and economists interpreted as the prime minister's direct recruitment in a state-owned company.

Niko Dalić from the INA Management Board is, of course, the husband of Martina Dalić, the Minister of Finance in Plenković's government, who was appointed head of Podravka by Plenković and who led, to put it mildly, the dubious "restructuring" of Agrokor. He is much less exposed in the media, but that is why he survived a whole decade on the INA Management Board.

He was the only one who survived Plenković's change of Croatian members. A trustworthy man, one would say. The current government did not only appoint the Management Board of INA, but also appointed HDZ member Damir Mikuljan as president of the Supervisory Board at the end of last year, and Davor Filipović, a man who had previously been spectacularly defeated in the elections for mayor of Zagreb, as a member.

>> Nacional: Plenković personally chose Dalić and her husband, they have a salary of HRK 200,000

HDZ minister was informed that Ina was losing money. He did nothing and could have prevented the theft

In an interview for N1, Damir Vanđelić, the former head of the Supervisory Board of INA, who was replaced by Damir Mikuljan in December 2021, said that he had informed the authorities, including the then HDZ Minister of Economy Tomislav Ćorić, that INA was losing money.

By the way, Damir Mikuljan, who replaced Damir Vanđelić, is the head of something called the Honorable Court of the HDZ. He will probably decide on the party line of the alleged organiser of the theft of the century, Damir Škugor. The arrested Škugor was also the man of honor for HDZ general secretary Krunoslav Katičić.

That Škugor is active in HDZ was revealed through photos of him hugging Plenković himself and the President of the Croatian Parliament, Goran Jandroković, although the government spokesman claimed before the photos were published that the Prime Minister did not know him.

"Last year in May, we reacted to the Supervisory Board and asked for a session because eight people in high positions in INA were dismissed," said Vanđelić. "I put the topic on for the Supervisory Board at that time, that is May 2021, I asked in English what the plan was when eight people were dismissed. I didn't know about Škugor at the time, but something was happening. Eight good people were dismissed then, they were paid severance pay to leave. That's why I asked what the plan was. We did not receive satisfactory answers."

"The answer was that they were improving the organisation," he added. "I didn't get any answer. I got some calls, mocking us from Supervisory Board because we are problematising the topics of staffing and gas business," he said. "Ćorić told me to politicise and do some other business".

HDZ's Čorić responded: "Vanđelic is very creative in presenting alternative facts". After that statement, evidence was published, an e-mail in which Vanđelić stated that he noticed the "leakage of funds from INA" and informed Ćorić about the problem. Vanđelić sent the mail to his colleagues in the Supervisory Board two weeks earlier and then forwarded it to Ćorić, in which he compared the operations of INA and MOL.

>> Published email in which Vanđelić warned Ćorić that Ina was losing a lot of money

Soon after that, he was removed from the head of the Supervisory Board and was replaced by the previously mentioned Damir Mikuljan, head of the Honorable Court of HDZ.

It is not difficult to notice that just last year, while the theft of the century was taking place, HDZ's staffing in INA was going on. It is arrogant and insulting to the intelligence of the citizens that Plenković claims that the government exposed the theft. By all accounts, the government directly set up Škugor and all the others who made a billion kuna disappear right in front of their noses.

>> Tomislav Ćorić could have prevented the theft of the century. Vuković: This is astonishing

Rakar: The theft was discovered by the banks. It is impossible to declare this a discovery of the government

HDZ's responsibility does not end with staffing at INA. The government is, of course, only a branch of HDZ, and HDZ recruits all over the country.

"I don't see how it is possible to declare the fact that the banks discovered a suspicious payment to the account of a natural person (in no less than a nine-digit amount in kuna) a victory or a great discovery when that same money was created by manipulation and de facto theft from an extremely organised company traded on the stock exchange in which the Republic of Croatia possesses almost 50 percent of the ownership, the president and several members of the Supervisory Board and several members of the company's Management Board. In addition, the entire operation took place through another company, which is owned by a utility company owned by the county, and CroPlin (which is 100% owned by the same INA)", Marko Rakar from the Association of Authorized Fraud Investigators told Index.

"This is proof that the mechanisms of management, control, and supervision in a whole series of companies, but also the state and counties, have completely failed", he concluded.

One of the channels through which money was extracted from INA is The Gas Company of Eastern Slavonia, headed by Marija Ratkić, also a member of HDZ. She defended herself before USKOK that she was only carrying out the orders of her party colleague Damir Škugor.

The Gas Plant Eastern Slavonia is owned by the Vukovar-Srijem County, whose prefect is Damir Dekanić. You guessed it, he is also an HDZ member. He has been a member since 1990 and since 2020 the vice president of the party in Vukovar-Srijem County. You don't need to guess a lot to conclude which party is recruiting in Plinara of Eastern Slavonia.

>> Gas plant revenues from the theft of the century jumped sharply last year. No one found this strange

Fina praised the company through which the theft from INA happened. And Fina, of course, is managed by HDZ

The ones who reported the suspicious events that led to the exposure of the theft of the century in Croatia are - private banks. And in addition to the internal controls of INA and Gas Plant Eastern Slavonia at least two state institutions, Fina and the Tax Administration, also failed.

The first one had all the information related to the company OMS-Upravljanje d.o.o., through which money was primarily extracted from INA. "The small and micro-entrepreneurs with the highest profit for the period in 2021 were: CENTRICE ZAGREB d.o.o., HT HOLDING d.o.o. and SUPERNOVA BUZIN d.o.o. (small) and CENTAR BUNDEK d.o.o. in bankruptcy, BELVEDERE d.d. in bankruptcy and OMS-UPRALJANJE d.o.o. (micro)", announced Fina in a press release just two months ago.

According to information from Fina, OMS-Upravljanje is in third place among the micro-entrepreneurs with the highest profit. Their profit was HRK 117 million 277 thousand. In 2021, OMS-Upravljanje had a higher profit than all those who were on the list of the top 5 small entrepreneurs.

The fact that a micro-company with one employee founded in 2019 had a higher profit than most medium-sized entrepreneurs, which have from 50 to 250 employees, should have immediately set off an alarm in Fina. But nobody reacted, and by chance or not, the head of Fina is another HDZ member, Dražen Čović.

>> The key company from the INA theft was on Fina's top list. Nobody even blinked

Plenković insults the intelligence of citizens

Nothing was suspicious, and no one knew anything. And many not only could but had to know. They get paid to do it. Internal control and management of INA, external auditors of INA, internal control and external auditors of Gas Plant Eastern Slavonia, FINA, Tax Administration, and many others.

The impression is that many people knew, or at least more than have been arrested (so far). HDZ appears in one way or another connected with the name of everyone involved with this theft of the century, whether it was a person directly involved or someone who should have reacted to obvious signs that something strange was going on.

If Plenković had just said today that HDZ and the government have nothing to do with what is happening around INA, it would be a blatant lie. Claiming that the HDZ government is responsible for uncovering the looting is a step beyond lying, making fools of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia.

The arrogance of that statement alone is enough for resignation, and as it has been proven that HDZ and Plenković directly staffed INA while the theft of the century was taking place, the resignation should be insisted on because of the direct responsibility for the disappearance of billions of kuna.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Politics section.

August the 23rd, 2022 - What exactly does the new proposal for the Law on Maritime Property bring with it? There are some concerning items to be aware of, and Otoci.eu/Islands.eu has a message for the powers that be.

As Andrea Beader/Otoci.eu writes, does the new proposal of the Law on Maritime Property and Sea Ports bring us any restrictions or the fencing off of sea beaches to the public?

Reviewing the new proposal of the Law on Maritime Property and Sea Ports, we were taken aback by the proposed items that explicitly enable the limitation of the general use of maritime property, its fencing off and even the potential charging for access to sea beaches along the coast of the mainland and on the islands, which would prevent all citizens of the Republic of Croatia, as well as the rest of the public, from enjoying unhindered public use of maritime property and sea beaches.

We consider parts of the proposed law inadmissible and completely contradictory to everything we have advocated for and communicated all these years, emphasising the importance of protecting Croatia's greatest social, touristic and economic potential - its maritime assets, which historically and culturally represents an extremely important resource for everyone.

Maritime resource management with an emphasis placed on sea beaches

Five years ago, together with numerous stakeholders in the working group for the drafting of the proposal of the Law on Maritime Property, we worked out the best models for the use of maritime property with a special emphasis placed on beaches, with shared knowledge and experience.

We all had the goal of protecting Croatia's maritime assets from devastation, the restriction of access and privatisation, and maintaining the concept of public good in order to enable all residents and visitors to swim and relax on the Croatian coast and on the islands. With the departure of Maja Markovcic Kostelac to another job, unfortunately the whole process was suddenly interrupted and the then proposal of the Law ended up stuffed down into a drawer after many hours of work.

Recently, this topic and the decision on the adoption of the new Law on Maritime Property and Sea Ports has been brought up to date again. A new working group was formed, to which we weren't invited as representatives of both citizens and civil society organisations, despite our continuous work and advocacy for the preservation of maritime property and its public use, especially regarding sea beaches. A few months ago, we were contacted by phone and our opinion was sought.

However, since we weren't presented with a new proposal for the Law on Maritime Property, we could only give our comments by generally repeating our well-known position - sea beaches in Croatia must remain for public use, and we will not support any restrictions on their use.

Of course, we understand the need for the economic use of maritime property, the improvement of the coastline and raising the quality of services offered on beaches, in ports and at sea. However, we believe that a way must be found so that the maritime asset remains a public asset and that everyone is satisfied with the management method.

As an example of good practice, we sent Mr. Bilaver the Rulebook on the Economic Use of Maritime Property, which we drafted back in 2017 with Split-Dalmatia County and which could serve as an example for everyone to find a way to reconcile private and public interest when concessioning sea beaches.

A dispute of Article 11 of the proposal for the Law on Maritime Property and Sea Ports

Finally, at the end of July of this year, we received the proposal of the new law from the state secretary, Mr. Bilaver, and a request to send our comments, which we did within a few days.

We consider the most controversial part of the proposal of the Law on Maritime Property and Sea Ports to be Article 11, which we'll transcribe in its entirety:

(1) On part of the maritime property, in accordance with this Law, the general use of the maritime property can be limited, and exceptionally excluded for a certain period of time on the basis of a concession, approval for special use, granting the right to the temporary use of the maritime property, and granting the management of a port.port administration which is open to public traffic.

(2) A restriction on the general use of maritime property is considered to be fencing off or otherwise preventing access to a part of the maritime property with or without charging [a free] for the use of the maritime property, when such a restriction is permitted by a valid concession agreement, a contract on special use or an agreement on the temporary use of the maritime property and by granting a port open for public transport to be placed under the management of the port authority.

(3) The exclusion of maritime property from general use is considered to be the use of a maritime asset in a way that completely or partially excludes the general use of a part of the maritime property, when such exclusion is permitted by a valid concession agreement, a special use agreement or an agreement on the temporary use of the maritime property.

(4) The degree of restriction and exclusion of maritime property from general use and the purpose achieved thereby is determined by the decision on awarding concessions, the decision on granting approval for special use and the decision on granting maritime property for temporary use.

Dear Prime Minister, Minister, Secretary of State and all other members of the working group who are responsible for the preparation of the proposal for this Law, we ask you - do you really intend to limit the use of maritime property, i.e. sea beaches for the public, with this proposal of the Law, and/or enable the installation of fences and the charging for entry to the beaches?

Are you aware of the negative practices of neighbouring countries, such as Italy, where the beaches are mostly under the concessions of catering/hospitality and hotel facilities, and the numerous sunbeds, umbrellas and other facilities don't allow unhindered access to the sea, even though, according to the law, the public use of maritime property in Italy cannot actually be restricted?

This is an Invitation to the responsible representatives of the institutions of the Republic of Croatia;
Prime Minister, Mr. Plenkovic
Honourable Minister of Maritime Affairs, Mr. Butkovic
State Secretary, Mr. Bilaver

We invite you to review and consider the comments and suggestions that we have sent on the draft law, and be sure to foresee the possibility that the beaches and the sea can be accessed unhindered, regardless of whether they are public or not.

We believe that additional facilities such as sunbeds, umbrellas and other props should incur charges when on the beaches, but they must not endanger and/or prevent unhindered public access to the sea and part of the sea coast. As an example of Split-Dalmatia County's rules for concessioned beaches, it is defined that it is necessary to leave 30% of the surface for public use and provide pedestrian corridors through which everyone who wants to can enter the sea unhindered.

Practice has shown that both private and public interests are satisfied in this way, and that companies and citizens, in places where the laws are respected, can live a quality co-existence. Any restriction of access to the sea and maritime property is a threat to human rights and will certainly cause a series of citizen complaints, public resistance and protests, which will damage community relations and investment potential on the coast and islands in the long term.

For more, make sure to check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 21 July 2022 - The Croatian government on Thursday adopted a decision setting 1 January 2023 as the date for introducing the euro as legal tender in Croatia.

"The euro will become the official monetary unit and legal tender in Croatia on 1 January 2023," the government said in its decision, presented by Finance Minister Marko Primorac.

The exchange rate was fixed at HRK 7.53450 for one euro.

The period of dual circulation of the two currencies begins on 1 January 2023 at 00:00 and ends on 14 January 2023 at 24:00 hours.

The period of mandatory display of dual prices lasts from 5 September 2022 at 00:00 hours to 31 December 2023 at 24:00 hours.

For more, check out our politics section.

July the 19th, 2022 - The state is set to ensure a massive 102 million kuna payout to Croatian local self-government units across the country in order to raise the overall quality of life of their residents.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, the state will help improve the quality of life in cities and municipalities with a total payment of 102 million kuna to various Croatian local self-government units, which is the total value of approved projects for co-financing at the public tender of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and State Property.

This amount will be divided into a total of 353 projects submitted by cities and municipalities from all counties, with the exception of the City of Zagreb. The projects themselves have a total value of 366 million kuna, and the state, depending on the level of development, will cover from 20,000 kuna to 120,000 kuna. The projects were chosen by the Croatian local self-government units themselves, so it is interesting to see what was considered a priority in this situation.

More than 100 projects involve the reconstruction and improvement of the roads, and about 50 projects pertain to the improvement of pavements and footpaths, as well as the procurement of communal equipment and machinery, from lawn mowers to snow plows and farm machines such as tractors. The arrangement of public lighting, most often replacing the classic bulbs with LED lighting, was requested by about forty Croatian local self-government units, and more than 20 of them see the arrangement of carparks and cemeteries as paramount. Community homes, playgrounds and kindergartens will also be arranged with the help of the state in ten cities and municipalities across the nation.

The lowest amount, 20,000 kuna, will go to Blato on the island of Korcula for setting up some new bus stops, and with the highest amounts of support, some will be able to arrange their central squares, such as the municipalities of Martijanec (near Varazdin) and Ribnik in Karlovac County, while Orebic and Komiza down on the coast will also repair their own squares.

Janjina down in Dubrovnik-Neretva County will be helped with the improvement of their local waterfront, and Sucuraj will see the improvement of their beach fully co-financed as part of the move. Djurdjevac will arrange their town's market with this government support, and the only project in an entrepreneurial zone is found in the municipality of Velika in Pozega-Slavonia County, where the road and pedestrian path will both be arranged. The richest of all, Istria County, has the fewest projects to speak of, only three of them in total, and they relate to smaller projects on cemetery walls, landscaping and public lighting.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, 15 July 2022 - The Sabor on Friday confirmed Marko Primorac as the new Minister of Finance with 77 votes in favour and 55 against, after former minister Zdravko Marić left the government at his own request.

After Minister Primorac swore that he would conduct his duties conscientiously and honourably, in accordance with the Constitution and laws, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković wished him success in his demanding and responsible work.

Primorac is an associate professor at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb. He studies public finances, local finances, the tax system and public debt management.

He has worked with the Ministry of Finance on a number of task forces in different rounds of tax reforms, as well as on the model of a financing system for local and regional self-government units.

From 2018 to 2020, he served as economic advisor to former president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

Since 2016, he has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute. From 2017 to 2018, he was the deputy chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Hrvatska Elektroprivreda electricity provider and since 2018 he has been the deputy chairman of the Audit Board of the Hrvatske Lutrije national lottery.

Since 2021, he has been an external member of the parliamentary Finance and Central Budget Committee.

Prior to today's vote in the Sabor, Primorac's appointment was supported yesterday by the parliamentary Finance and Central Budget Committee after being interviewed by the committee.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 13 July 2022 - MP Ivana Kekin of the Green-Left Bloc said on Wednesday the heating season was three months away, yet the government was not taking any action.

She said in parliament that while all of Europe was talking about energy supply in the coming autumn and winter, the Croatian government was avoiding the topic.

At the beginning of the year, the EU decided that all gas storage facilities must be 80% full by 1 November, while Croatia has only one storage which is barely 20% full now, less than at the same time last year, Kekin said, adding that the government has no clue where it will procure gas.

She also accused the government of pursuing a policy that favored Russian interests by awarding the job of leasing additional gas capacity to the PPD company.

MP Anka Mrak Taritaš (GLAS) criticized the prime minister for not giving recommendations on energy saving.

Our behavior will have to change for the sake of energy saving, not just because of Russia but also because of environmental protection and energy transition, she said, calling for taking action now.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 13 July 2022 - The Croatian government has recommended that parliament adopt the proposal by 92 lawmakers to amend the provisions of the constitution concerning referenda.

The amended constitution and the adoption of the new Referendum Act, which is also in the pipeline, will fully regulate this area of law, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

The proposed amendments will facilitate the launch of referendum initiatives by voters while at the same time ensuring the legitimacy of decision making, it added.

The government in particular supported the proposal to reduce the necessary number of voters petitioning for a nationwide referendum from the present 10 per cent of the total electorate, or 360,000 voters, to 250,000 voters.

"The reduction of the number of signatures required for calling a referendum will substantially facilitate the use of a referendum as an instrument of direct democracy," the government said.

It also supported the proposal to ensure the legitimacy of decision making by introducing a decision making quorum, saying that the proposed quorums were appropriate to different cases.

For more, check out our politics section.

July the 8th, 2022 - Finance Minister Zdravko Maric, who was with the government in that position for six years, seemingly suddenly stepped down of his own accord recently, and former Agrokor boss Ivica Todoric, with whom the now former finance minister was embroiled back in 2017, has made a comment.

If you'd like to learn more about Zdravko Maric's history and the reasons behind him stepping down from his longtime position within Andrej Plenkovic's government (HDZ), you can do so here.

The article also details Zdravko Maric's close involvement with the Agrokor saga which threatened to bring the Croatian economy to its knees back in 2017 when certain goings on among its leading names and former boss Ivica Todoric came to light. Maric came to work within the government from Agrokor, and naturally, Ivica Todoric had a lot to say about the otherwise rather unassuming former minister back then, and now.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, ex Agrokor founder and boss Ivica Todoric says that he has analysed everything to do with the current political situation and that he is very much inclined to believe that the reason for Zdravko Maric stepping down from his position within the government is the loss of the Republic of Croatia's dispute against Hungary's MOL, an issue which has otherwise been plaguing the government for a significant amount of time now.

"The dispute was initiated by MOL. Croatia will now have to pay an amount between 250-300 million euros, plus interest. A thorough analysis of this case would reveal many facts that would lead one to accuse Andrej Plenkovic of simply handing Croatia's INA over to MOL, and this should of course be avoided at all costs.

In the same sense, it would open up the story of the arbitration related to Agrokor once again, which would only further complicate Plenkovic's position even more. In order to avoid dramatic evidence against himself coming to light (he's trying to sweep everything under the rug), Andrej Plenkovic planned and prepared the strongest possible media bomb to save his own skin. So Maric is now leaving to try to save Plenkovic," Ivica Todoric wrote on Facebook.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, 6 July 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday thanked Zdravko Marić for the contribution he made as Minister of Finance, saying that he "has done a great job" and said that the new minister, Marko Primorac, is also excellent and will gain a good reputation with his work, just like Marić.

Addressing a press conference held in Government House after a meeting of the ruling majority, the prime minister said that he has a very good relationship with Marić and that they had a long discussion about his leaving the government.

Every government member supposed to want to work 300 percent

"I am guided by only one principle, anyone who wants to be a member of the government has to want to work 300 percent. He (Marić) worked brilliantly for 6.5 years and obviously the time has come when he decided to do something else for his own reasons. I respect that," said Plenković and underscored that he appreciates Marić's contribution.

Everything that is important for our economic and fiscal policy in the future, will be done with Marko Primorac, Davor Filipović, Marin Piletić and other government members, he added, referring to two new ministers and Primorac whose candidacy is to be confirmed by the parliament,

Plenković would not reveal where Marić is going and added that Marić had told the HDZ leadership, the cabinet and the ruling coalition that he still does not have a clear picture of what and where he will work in the future.

"When he is ready to say something more about that he will do so," the prime minister added.

Plenković underscored that "no one can work in the government for a hundred years" and everyone has an expiry date.

"We have new ministers. We are replacing young ones with even younger, equally good and smart ones. You will get used to them, as will the public, and we will continue to function," he told reporters.

Given the very good reputation that Marić enjoys in the professional and general public, reporters asked how long it would take for the future minister to "adjust," with Plenković saying that the state has to function, and Primorac will gain an equal reputation with his work.

"You will see that Primorac is great, smart, eloquent. He understands the matter and will adapt quickly. He knows people in the ministry. Just like Zdravko gained his reputation for his work Marko Primorac will too," said Plenković.

Asked if he was personally affected by Marić's resignation or whether he experienced it as disloyalty, Plenković said "No. We have been through so much." He underscored how they achieved common goals, entry into the euro area, upgrade of Croatia's credit rating, exiting the macroeconomic imbalance mechanism and so on.

Primorac to also be non-partisan minister

Primorac, like Marić, will be a non-party member of the government and Plenković underlined that he had received the unanimous support of HDZ party bodies.

Asked whether there wasn't anyone in the HDZ who could fill that position, he said there was but that he wanted "someone who will be the right person at the right time."

There are others and this man is ready to be engaged as much as possible. We are just waiting for him to recover from COVID, he added, saying that Primorac will be as good as Marić because that is the "condition for him to be a minister."

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