PM: This government only one who did something for people with loans pegged to Swiss franc

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic told Croatian Television on Friday that his government was the only one to do something for people with loans pegged to Swiss franc, he confirmed that the monetisation of motorways would start by the end of this year and said he had talked to generals Petar Stipetic, Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac about a military march on the anniversary of Operation Storm.

My government and I personally were the first to have done something for people with loans denominated in Swiss francs and if we had not freeze the exchange rate for the franc their awful situation would be even worse, Milanovic told Croatian Television commenting on a protest announced for Saturday by the Franak Association of citizens with loans denominated in Swiss francs. The association expects between 15,000 and 30,000 disenfranchised citizens, those with loans pegged to the CHF, the jobless, war veterans, pensioners and citizens with blocked accounts.

People are dissatisfied and there is no point in shifting the blame on the the then central bank governor or the then government. We "froze" the franc and this is how it will be. The government guarantees the exchange rate for the franc the same way the central bank guarantees the exchange rate for the euro, Milanovic said.

He added that the private debt was possible Croatia's biggest problem. The PM however declined to comment on the reasons why negotiations between banks, the Franak Association and the Finance Ministry had been interrupted.
Milanovic said he would not attend a "Rally of Unity - 100 Percent for Croatia" announced by the association of 100-percent disabled Homeland War veterans for April 29, nor their protest rally announced for May 2.
As long as a group of people is making an ultimatum concerning the replacement of my minister, I cannot agree to that, Milanovic said.

Commenting on a latest scandal concerning the relocation of the Environment Protection Ministry, Milanovic said Minister Mihael Zmajlovic made a legitimate decision to relocate people from ten different locations to one, adding that in the future the Office for the State Owned Property would deal with relocations and not the ministers.

The monetisation of the public debt of Hrvatske Autoceste (HAC) motorway maintenance and toll company will be carried out through another, maybe even better model, even though less money would be saved, Milanovic said commenting on the Constitutional Court's decision about a referendum on monetisation and outsourcing.

Commenting on the public administration reorganisation, Milanovic said that in his opinion it would be best to keep the current number of municipalities and counties, adding that Croatia did not need regionalisation into five regions.
Commenting on the 20th anniversary of Operation Storm, the PM said that a State Committee, comprised of generals Petar Stipetic, Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac and representatives of top state institutions, have agreed on the idea of commanders who had liberated Knin to have ceremony in Zagreb in the afternoon, which will not coincide with the ceremony in Knin, which is scheduled to end around noon.

He also said he was not following the trials of Josip Perkovic and Zdravko Mustac.

News