21 March 2022 - Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković presented 45 contracts for port construction and reconstruction in Zadar, Šibenik-Knin, Split-Dalmatia and Dubrovnik-Neretva counties at a ceremony in Zadar's Gaženica Port on Monday.

The contracts, worth HRK 47.7 million (€6.36m) in total, will finance the construction and reconstruction of ports open to public transport, the modernisation and construction of fishing infrastructure, and the repair and reconstruction of the maritime domain in general use.

"This is the continuation of the large investment cycle for ports and seafronts. We are a country that lives off the sea and is oriented towards the sea, so it's good that a large chunk of the HRK 25 billion of investment in the transport sector goes towards the reconstruction of ports, seafronts and piers," Butković said after the ceremony.

He said that total investment in ports and port infrastructure along the Adriatic amounted to about HRK 2 billion.

Before the ceremony, Butković had visited an extended ferry pier in Tkon on Pašman island, which was formally opened today. The new ferry port is the first of 28 port infrastructure upgrade projects in Croatia financed with EU grants. The total value of the project is HRK 32.6 million, of which HRK 27.7 million came from the EU Cohesion Fund.

Tkon is the ninth busiest ferry port in Croatia in terms of the number of passengers (500,000 annually) and the 11th busiest in terms of the number of vehicles transported (120,000). It is the second busiest port in Zadar County.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

ZAGREB, 4 March, 2021 - Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Nataša Tramišak met with Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbović on Thursday to discuss an intervention plan for the reconstruction of the city after a devastating earthquake in December, after which a group of disgruntled people verbally attacked the mayor.

The intervention plan is aimed at the social and economic regeneration of small towns, it was said.

The minister said Petrinja had been implementing HRK 140 million worth of EU-funded projects until 2020 and that several more remained to be contracted.

She said the goal was to utilise the funds available until the end of 2023 in the Petrinja area and invest in infrastructure and ongoing projects.

Tramišak said €111 million had been ensured for building new state-owned flats in Petrinja, Sisak, Glina and other towns affected by the earthquake.

If standardised buildings and houses will be built, construction could begin soon, she added.

Mayor Dumbović said he was satisfied with the solutions proposed and that the Culture Ministry had promised that Petrinja would look as it did before the earthquake. 

Mayor verbally attacked by protesters

Several dozen protesters rallied outside the venue of the meeting, complaining about the lack of transparency in decisions concerning the right to reconstruction aid and about the distribution of humanitarian aid.

The demonstrators blocked the exit of the fire station where the meeting was taking place, preventing the mayor's car from leaving the venue and announcing new protests.

Dumbović told the RTL commercial television channel in the evening that the incident was politically motivated. Asked who was behind the demonstration, he named Luca Gašpar Šako, the local coordinator of the opposition Bridge party.

"They are not aware of the damage individuals are doing to Petrinja. Petrinja did not deserve this. It turns out that we are lawless cowboys wanting to achieve something by force," the mayor said. 

ZAGREB, June 12, 2020 - The police have launched an investigation into the appearance of a banner with vulgar and abusive messages against Serb children and women at a football match in a Zagreb suburb, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Friday.

Minister Bozinovic also reassured the public that the police would solve this case just as any case of incitement to violence and ethnic intolerance.

The banner with a vulgar invective against Serb women and children was raised by spectators on the stands during a football match in Zagreb's Kustosija neighborhood on Thursday.

Asked by the press whether law enforcement authorities had identified the perpetrators, Bozinovic said today that the police were one of the institutions that "very promptly" informed the general public of their activities and that they would share the information when they could do that.

The minister again refused media outlets' allegations about reports of police brutality against illegal migrants along the border.

I have recently pointed out very resolutely that the Croatian police do not treat anyone brutally. "The Croatian police protect the Croatian border and prevent illegal arrivals," he underscored during his visit to the northern town of Prelog.

"In any case, our message is that we will abide by the law, including national and European laws, and nobody can stop us from protecting the Croatian border against illegal entries, regardless of where those pressures come from," the minister said.

He said that those who disseminate allegations about red crosses being sprayed by Croatian police officers on the heads of migrants during the month of Ramadan were ill-intentioned both towards migrants and Croatia.