Government coalition wants to work until the end of the mandate, but …
Robert Jankovics, member of Party of Work and Solidarity - a member of a government coalition led by Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić - said that all members agreed to continue work and have regular parliamentary elections in October 2020. Leading party, HDz, and some minor coalition partners said that HNS (RE), which ultimately required that public administration minister Lovro Kuščević resign, should be more discrete in its demands.
Parliament Speaker and HDZ secretary-general Gordan Jandroković said that party’s decision regarding Minister Kuščević’s replacement was autonomous and had not been made under pressure from the HNS. Darinko Kosor, leader of HSLS (one MP) said that this is last time “that HNS and SDSS (party of Serbian minority) are patronizing us”. More here. In the central news show on public television, Kosor said that HNS provoked crisis because of internal conflicts: Matija Posavec, leader of Međimurje county, was pushing HNS to leave the coalition”.
Arsen Bauk, leader of SDP faction in parliament, said that the prime minister Plenković had decided to sacrifice Lovro Kuščević so that he could save himself.
In the afternoon meeting of HDZ presidency was held and prime minister Andrej Plenković announced that he got support for the reconstruction of government, if needed. Milijan Brkić, HDZ vice president, said that “HNS repent and promised they would no longer sin”. More in Jutarnji list.
Sanja Putica was mentioned as the possible new minister of public administration: Sanja Putica, HDZ MP from Dubrovnik and niece of Dubravka Šuica, HDZ member of European Parliament. Some other sources are speculating that she would be the new minister of foreign affairs: she is vice president of Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe. More about her in interview and in Jutarnji list. More credible candidate for public administration is state secretary in that Ministry Darko Nekić. And there is possibility of incorporating that Ministry in Ministry of Justice. Jutarnji list in today’s print edition mentions chief of PM’s cabinet, Zvonimir Frka Petešić as candidate for minister of foreign affairs.
A tough blow for the mayor of Zagreb tweet
Ministry of Construction did not approve proposal for amendment of the General Urban Plan (GUP) of the City of Zagreb. Ministar Predrag Štromar is member of HNS. That was a precondition for starting a big project called “Manhattan iz Zagreb”. Milan Bandić, mayor of Zagreb, said that he will withdraw proposal from the agenda of the session of the Zagreb City Assembly (Jutarnji list). Former Minister of Construction Anka Mrak Taritaš (now GLAS party, former HNS) said that, thanks to a decision passed in her mandate, devastation of Zagreb is prevented.
Danas sam apsolutno sigurna u u odluku koja je donesena u mom mandatu da se za GUP Grada Zagreba mora ishoditi suglasnost Ministarstva graditeljstva i prostornog uređenja jer je zahvaljujući upravo toj odluci spriječena devastacija Zagreba u režiji Milana Bandića i HDZ-a.
— Anka Mrak Taritaš (@anka_mrak) July 9, 2019
Jutarnji list in today’s print edition connects decision of Ministry of Construction with political conflict of HNS and Bandić who requested resignation of Blaženka Divjak, minister of education (non affiliated, from HNS quota).
“Iron curtain become silk or cotton but is still here”
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović in a lecture at the Europa Institute of the University of Zurich on the theme “Europe – Challenges and Perspectives in an Ever More Complex World.” said that although the Iron Curtain dividing the continent had disappeared, there was now "a silk or a cotton curtain" making divisions between what used to be the west and the east of Europe. She pointed out differences in the living standards as well in the state of affairs in the infrastructure and the mindsets. Therefore, Grabar-Kitarović called for eliminating those barriers and for being focused on the cohesion and connectivity of Europe and making it stronger.
She emphasized the Three Sea Initiative whose aim is to equalize the standards of old and new EU members. Croatian president also spoke about the need of extension of the Union to the Southeast, pointing out that her opinion is that this part of Europe will "have peace and security only when these countries are fully integrated into the EU and those who want it in the NATO". Grabar-Kitarović believes that "Balkans" and "Balkanization" have become terms that indicate war and suffering, which does not contribute to "the mental perception and feelings of Europeans towards further enlargement of the Union". Instead, the better, "geographically neutral" term is southeastern Europe. Hina
Parliament backs Croat troops' deployment in international missions
Lawmakers of both the ruling coalition and opposition parties on Tuesday supported the engagement of Croatian troops in international missions, underscoring that Croatia has multiple benefits from such missions. Thus, parliamentarians supported the continuation of Croatia's participation in military operations outside the country, including the Sea Guardian mission in the Mediterranean Sea, the NATO-led operations in Lithuania as well as "Operation Inherent Resolve" in Iraq and Kuwait and some other international missions. Human Shield, populist party on brink of collapse, was against.
More tourist visited Croatia
In the first six months of 2019, almost 6.9 million tourists visited Croatia and generated 26.2 million overnight stays, which were increases of 6% and 3% respectively, compared to the same period in 2018 and all indications in tourism are good, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said. “Foreign tourists alone generated € 25 million more in revenue than for the same period in 2018 and that is in the pre-season when prices are lower," said Cappelli.
He considers that physical numbers (arrivals and overnight stays) are important even though revenue is more important. "Based on the Tourism Strategy to 2020, we have come close to physical numbers but we still haven't achieved the foreseen 14 billion in revenue for 2020, however, we are somewhere in the vicinity of 12 billion euro”, said minister saying that focus has to be on quality improvement. Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) Kristijan Staničić, regarding criticism coming from owners of private apartments that number of tourists is plummeting, said: “In three years, from 2016 to 2019, we have increased the number of beds for 164,000 in commercial accommodation and it is hard to expect that in the situation of slowing down demand on international markets and strengthening the activity of competition all of these beds will be filled”. www.hrt.hr
Od siječnja do lipnja u turizmu ostvareno 6,88 milijuna dolazaka (+6,39%) i 26,26 milijuna noćenja (+3,02%) @hrtvijesti pic.twitter.com/F9ArG7lE1L
— Silvana Skocajic (@SkocajicSilvana) July 9, 2019
War between shareholders in Luka Rijeka
The conflict between the biggest Polish port operator OT Logistics and Croatian AZ pension fund resulted in dissolving shareholder agreement. The third member was Erste pension fund. Both funds, as Jutarnji list in today’s print edition reports, propose finding a new strategic partner to operate Luka Rijeka. Poland state Foreign Expansion Fund (FEZ) entered in business because OT has fallen into some financial problems. So, the whole story got political, even geopolitical dimension, writes Frenki Laušić.
9,2 billion kunas until 2023. to railway infrastructure
Between 2019 and 2023, 9.3 billion kunas is planned for railway infrastructure, of which 59% is related to projects co-financed by the EU, Večernji list reports. Works are going on 18 capital projects and four of them are in the construction phase. The closest to completion of the works is the line Gradec - Sveti Ivan Žabno: that is the first new railway line that was built in Croatia after 50 years. It can be open to traffic on September 1st. EC in its proposals to Croatia in June emphasized focusing on railway infrastructure.
More export - and import - from Croatia to Ireland
Probably thanks to Croatian emigrants who can not do without domestic products, exports to Ireland this year increased significantly: in the first four months it reached a value of 122 million kunas, which is 212 per cent more than in the same period last year when it was 39 million kunas. However, imports from that country also considerably increased: from 156 to 303 million kunas or 93.7 per cent. More on novac.hr. Croatia's commodity exports in the first five months of 2019 totalled HRK 45.8 billion, up 7.4% on the year, while imports went up 9.8% to HRK 78.7 billion, Croatian Bureau of Statistics announced. Export to the EU increased by 5.3 per cent, but slightly faster in other countries, at a rate of 13.3 per cent: especially CEFTA members (21.4 per cent) Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova.
EBRD to invest €10 mn in private equity fund for SMEs in South East Europe
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Tuesday informed that it will invest € 10 million in the Invera Private Equity Fund for the needs of further investments in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Europe (SEE) and will focus on developing private companies in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro."Invera Equity Partners is a newly established private equity fund manager which will target total capital commitments of up to €100 million, including through the mobilisation of local institutional investors," EBRD reported on its web site. Hina