Prime Minister says government needs to cooperate with prosecutor's office to step up investments

Prime Minister Oreskovic said at the start of a government session that he and Economy Minister Panenic met with Chief State Prosecutor Dinko Cvitan on Tuesday to discuss ways to accelerate investments, announcing that he would discuss investments during his visit to Vukovar later this week.

It is necessary to cooperate with the Chief State Prosecutor's Office (DORH) to accelerate investments, Oreskovic said at the start of the session.

He confirmed that he would visit the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar on Thursday and Friday, primarily to talk about investments. The prime minister said there was an investor interested in investing in Slavonia and that he was looking for 10,000 hectares of land, adding that he would discuss this with local authorities.

The government today adopted the Strategy for Smart Specialisation for the 2016-2020 period, which is one of the binding conditions for absorbing money from European structural and investment funds. An integral part of the Strategy is an Action Plan which covers activities for the implementation of the Strategy in 2016 and 2017.

Economy Minister Panenic said that "the adoption of the Strategy unlocks allocated funds within the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014-2020, worth EUR 664 million, to be used for promoting scientific excellence and strengthening the competitiveness of Croatia's economy through research, technological development and innovation."

The government also adopted a report on negotiations for signing an agreement on government collateral between Croatia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the financing of the restructuring of the Croatian motorways operator HAC and a loan agreement between HAC and the EBRD worth EUR 250 million.

The loan matures in 15 years and has a two-year grace period and an interest rate of a six-month EURIBOR increased by 1%.

The government also gave its consent to the town of Ivanic Grad to take a loan with the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) worth HRK 15.3 million. The loan will be used to finance the construction of municipal infrastructure facilities.

(Text: Hina)

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