ZAGREB, January 24, 2019 - The government on Wednesday decided to choose the Marea Alta company as the most favourable buyer for the Hotel Hrvatska (Hotel Croatia) in the southern coastal town of Baška Voda, which offered 46.13 million kuna for the hotel which after the sale will be remodelled and recategorised into a four-star hotel, according to State Assets Minister Goran Marić.

Marić recalled that on May 12, 2018, his ministry published a tender for the sale of Hotel Hrvatska with a starting price of 42.3 million kuna and that not a single offer had been submitted. The government then reduced the price to 35.9 million kuna and published a new tender on 26 September.

Three offers were submitted following the new tender and Marea Alta submitted the most favourable offer.

Hotel Hrvatska is currently a two-star hotel and was not in use last year. It is a beachfront facility formerly used as a military barracks. The 136-unit hotel is located in downtown Baška Voda. "Following the sale, the hotel will be remodelled and recategorised as a four-star facility," Marić said.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Tourism Minister said this would help raise the quality of tourism in Baška Voda.

The State Assets Ministry and the buyer will sign a contract under which the buyer will be obliged to pay the said price within 30 days, minus 1.79 million kuna that was paid into the state budget during the public tender procedure.

More news on the hotels in Croatia can be found in the Travel section.

Works have begun in the extreme south of Dalmatia, just before the Montenegrin border. Prevlaka fortress, the renovation works on which have been being awaited for some considerable time now, have finally started. Prevlaka fortress, which sadly sat neglected and delapidated for years, will be renovated and eventually turned into no less than a naval museum.

As Morski writes on the 3rd of January, 2019, thanks to the Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities, Prevlaka fortress will get a new lease of life and a sense of purpose. The raising of the scaffolding and the beginning of the works on the renovation of the almost entirely abandoned Austro-Hungarian fortress of Prevlaka have finally been announced.

''It's clear that 2019 will be the same as it has been throughout many past years for the Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities, fruitful and careful attention due to the wish to preserve our heritage for generations to come,'' said Niko Kapetanić, President of the aforementioned Dubrovnik-based society, who expressed his satisfaction at the start of the works on the reconstruction of Prevlaka fortress, located at the southernmost point of Croatia, almost right on the border with Montenegro, and from which the coastline of Montenegro can be seen.

To briefly recall, this area of extreme southern Dalmatia was under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Croatia until quite recently, and the state left Prevlaka fortress in the hands of Croatia's southernmost municipality, the Municipality of Konavle. Together with the Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities, the municipality will eventually open a museum dedicated to the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the fortress, with special emphasis placed on the Croatian component.

This isn't something that is particularly cheap to oversee and do, and according to some of the best experts on such matters in the world, ranging from naval uniforms to historic weaopons, to parts of old ships, the final result will be a complete cross section of the former Austro-Hungarian Navy. The plan is also for Prevlaka fortress to house an aquarium displaying an array of Adriatic fish, a souvenir shop, a lookout point, and an accompanying catering facility.

These plans have been revealed by Kapetanić, who didn't really want to speculate on what the price would or could be, but added that it would surely be tens of millions of kuna.

Back in September 2017, Minister of State Property Goran Marić pointed out that while Konavle might well geographically be at the very edge of Croatia, it doesn't mean that it also needs to be at the very edge in terms of relations with the state.

''It's in our interest to bring this project to life and that this [piece of state] property doesn't fall. We like the project that is intended for this property,'' Marić said.

Make sure to stay up to date on Prevlaka's progress and much more by following our dedicated lifestyle page.

ZAGREB, January 2, 2019 - State Assets Minister Goran Marić said on Wednesday that neither the government nor he could do anything about the closing of the refinery in Sisak because that was the decision of the INA oil company's management, adding that he was still advocating for not closing the plant.

"The state assets minister and the government can't make business decisions for any company," he told reporters when asked if the government had done enough to prevent the closure of the Sisak refinery.

Asked if he would keep his promise from the 2016 election campaign that he would leave politics if the refinery was closed, Marić said he was still advocating for not closing the plant.

He said he was politically advocating that contractual obligations be met, that management consider whether the closure was justified, but added that business decisions in any company were made by management and the supervisory board. "As a minister, I can't exert pressure on anyone," he stressed.

Asked if INA was a state asset in any way, he said it was not and that the government only had shares in it, reiterating that business decisions concerning INA were made by the management and the supervisory board.

Marić said he would continue to insist on the adoption of decisions in Croatia's interests, and that not closing the Sisak refinery was in Croatia's interest.

Asked if the government and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković were pushing hard enough for what he was pushing for, he said that as an economist he mostly supported production and that during the election campaign they pushed for salvaging the Petrokemija fertiliser manufacturer and against closing the Sisak refinery.

He said Petrokemija was salvaged and that "the State Assets Ministry had a crucial role in its recapitalisation, but it certainly can't have decisive influence on the closure of the refinery."

More news on the Sisak refinery can be found in our Business section.

ZAGREB, December 12, 2018 - The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina believes that by implementing its law on the management of state assets, Croatia is breaching the Yugoslavia succession agreement, and it will take legal, political and diplomatic steps so that Bosnia and Herzegovina can protect its property in Croatia, according to a statement issued after the first meeting of the new Presidency comprising Milorad Dodik, Željko Komšić and Šefik Džaferović.

The statement delivered to Hina notes that the Presidency has tasked the foreign ministry to send a note to the UN secretary-general as the depositor of the Yugoslav Agreement on Succession Issues of the Former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, informing him that Croatia is in breach of that agreement.

The head of Bosnia's negotiation team in the Permanent Joint Commission of Country Successors of the Former Yugoslavia was tasked to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Commission because of Croatia's breach.

The Presidency tasked the Council of Ministers to report on activities undertaken "in order to ensure the protection and restitution of property owned by physical and legal entities from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bosnia and Herzegovina's property located in the Republic of Croatia."

Bosnia's ombudsman was tasked to coordinate measures with entity privatisation agencies for the protection of Bosnia and Herzegovina's property in Croatia and to define a model to lodge an appeal with Croatia's Constitutional Court that would dispute the constitutionality of Croatia's law on the management of state assets and relevant regulations which prevent the real owners in Bosnia and Herzegovina from being registered as owners in the appropriate land titles register.

The chairman of the Presidency, Milorad Dodik, will send a letter to Croatia's President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, demanding that the agreement on succession and its annexes be applied in accordance with international law as a legal act that has priority in relation to domestic regulations. As such, it is necessary for Bosnia and Herzegovina's property located in Croatia to be returned and for the actual owners to be registered in the land titles register, the statement said.

More news on the relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 18, 2018 - Croatian State Assets Minister Goran Marić said on Wednesday that building a national football stadium was necessary and that this must be done as soon as possible.

ZAGREB, May 26, 2018 - Commenting on the adoption of a law on state property management by the Croatian parliament on Friday, which will enable also the management of real estate in Croatia that is owned by other former Yugoslav republics, Bosnia and Herzegovina Justice Minister Josip Grubeša said on Saturday that Croatia could not make unilateral decisions on Bosnia and Herzegovina's property on its territory, and that that property was protected by the agreement on succession to the former Yugoslav federation.

ZAGREB, May 18, 2018 - If the States Assets Ministry realises 10% of what is possible over the next three to four years, the impact on budgetary revenues will be counted in billions, Minister Goran Marić said in parliament on Thursday, presenting a bill on state assets management.

ZAGREB, May 8, 2018 - State Assets Minister Goran Marić on Tuesday told a conference that his ministry will remain part of the government and won't be merged with any other ministry, and that his ministry is preparing thousands of requests for the State Prosecutor's Office for evictions from state property and flats.

Something old turns into something new in the name of promoting Sibenik's ever growing tourist offer.

Due to the delay in law, the state is now in the position to bring in two annual property management plans for both 2018 and 2019.