Croatian PM meets his Swedish counterpart, expat Croats in Gothenburg

Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who travelled to Sweden for the European Union's Social Summit due to be held on Friday in Gothenburg, held talks with his Swedish counterpart Stefan Loefven on Thursday on the strengthening of economic and scientific bilateral cooperation as well as on cooperation in the defence sector since Swedish Saab Group manufactures Gripen aircraft, one of the few options the Croatian Defence Ministry is considering for the procurement of the fighter jets.

Upon his arrival in Gothenburg on Thursday afternoon, Plenkovic and the summit's host Loefven held talks on the bilateral relations and on the enhancement of economic cooperation as well as on the 40,000 strong expat Croat community in that Scandinavian country.

"We and Sweden have developed diverse economic cooperation. In Croatia Ericsson Nikola Tesla does business as well as Tele2 and Ikea that arrived in our market a few years ago. They are interested in connecting the triangle between business sphere, academic community and institutions. This is the model Sweden wants to apply in international relations. I hope that a recent visit of Swedish business people to Croatia will help boost economic and scientific cooperation, thus being conducive to our economic growth and trade," Plenkovic told a news conference after his talks with his Swedish counterpart.

Also, European topics were on the agenda of the Loefven-Plenkovic meeting.

Plenkovic confirmed that they had considered Croatia's plan to purchase fighter jets and Swedish offer of Gripen.

The Croatian premier, who held talks also with expat Croat representatives, said he was happy to hear what his cabinet could do to improve the connections with Croatians living abroad.

Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday evening that the issuance of a 1.275 billion euro-bond which has a yield of 2.953% and a coupon rate of 2.75% for the purpose of refinancing the road sector's debt, would help the country to make savings in the amount of approximately 160 million kuna annually next 12 years.

The finance ministry stated earlier on Thursday that Croatia had "issued 1.275 billion in the euro bond which matures in 2030 and has a yield of 2.953% and a coupon rate of 2.75%, which is the most favourable and longest maturity issue ever achieved on international capital markets."

This is an exceptional success, Plenkovic said in Gothenburg where he arrived for the European Union's Social summit meting for fair jobs and growth.

This saving is also the confirmation that political stability is not a status quo but a step forward, the premier added.

Text: Hina

 

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