Procedure to select strategic partner for Croatia Airlines to be conducted by interdepartmental commission

The Croatian government on Thursday forwarded to the parliament the final bill on wine, which proposes reducing the tax burden on winemakers.

Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolusic said the bill was formulated in cooperation with winemakers and wine growers.

"We have done our best to ease their market position, to make Croatia recognisable as a region that may not have many vineyards compared to other European regions but that has high quality wines and is becoming recognisable for them not only in Europe but around the world as well," said Tolusic.

He said that winemakers had complained about parafiscal levies in wine production, with the state charging them around HRK 2 million annually for registration labels and about ten million for documents necessary to put wine on the market.

"The bill abolishes those parafiscal levies and what has been retained is the LOT number which is sufficient to follow wine from production to sale," he said.

He added that the bill envisaged introducing wine supervisors to step up control of wine production from vineyard to wine cellar with the aim of making the situation on the market more orderly and fighting the grey economy.

The bill also introduces four wine-making regions - Slavonia and the Croatian Danube region, the Croatian Istria and Kvarner, Dalmatia, and the central and hilly Croatia.

The government today also adopted a set of legislative changes regulating the establishment of the State Inspectorate, which as of April 1 should take over the job of inspection currently done by several ministries.

Procedure to select strategic partner for Croatia Airlines to be conducted by interdepartmental commission

The procedure to choose a strategic partner for Croatia Airlines will be conducted by an interdepartmental commission to be tasked with considering further steps in finding an experienced air transport partner that would contribute to the future development and competitiveness of the national flag carrier, the Croatian government decided at a session on Thursday.

"The commission's main task is to consider further steps to be taken in order to find a quality strategic partner with significant experience in civilian aviation, who, among other things, would ensure the expansion of the airline's network and increase its market share. Special attention should be paid to the importance of regular, year-round domestic and international transport and the need for strong support for the further development of Croatia's tourism potential, as well as participation in the renewal of the company's fleet and its recapitalisation," said Transport Minister Oleg Butkovic.

The commission will propose the partner it chooses to the government in line with valid national and EU laws so as to secure that the majority ownership and management of the national flag carrier is in the hands of legal or physical persons from the EU, with the aim of maintaining the airline's operating licence.

In September 2018, a procedure was launched to procure financial consultancy services in elaborating a model for Croatia Airlines' recapitalisation and selection of the strategic partner. So far, there has been no information on possible applicants.

The Croatian government on Thursday adopted a decision to set up a national cooperation network in the field of online transparency, protection against cyber incidents, and fight against misinformation campaigns in the context of the coming elections for the European Parliament.

Gov't invites candidacies for Ethnic Minorities Council

The government invited ethnic minority councils to propose candidates for seven members of those councils and ethnic minority associations and other minority organisations, religious communities, legal persons and citizens - members of minority communities, to propose candidates for five members of the Council for Ethnic Minorities considering that the term of five current members expires. 

Proposals are to be sent by March 5 to the Office for Human and Minority Rights, which will then send to the government the names of the proposed candidates for the posts of members, president and two vice-presidents of the Council for Ethnic Minorities.

The term of the current members, who are also minority deputies in the parliament, expires on March 27. They are appointed by the government.

The government also sent to the parliament the final bill on the election of councils and representatives of ethnic minorities under which those elections would be held on the first Sunday in May every four years.

The Croatian government on Thursday adopted a conclusion on financing a project to build a bridge across the Sava River at Gradiska, in the north of the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska, with an access road. The value of the part of the project that is financed by Croatia has been estimated at HRK 520.5 million (approx. EUR 70.33 million), not including VAT.

Transport Minister Oleg Butkovic said that the agreement on the construction of the bridge and border access sections of an interstate road, signed on 22 November 2011 by the governments of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, defined the legal framework for the joint implementation of the project.

"Considering the significant project value, models of financing involving a loan or EU funds will be considered," said Butkovic.

A possible loan or financing from EU funds refers to the amount of HRK 242 million, not including VAT, while the remaining HRK 278.5 million is envisaged by the financial plan for 2019 and projected financial plans for 2020 and 2021 of the state-owned road construction and maintenance company Croatian Roads (HC).  

Plinacro to get licence to build Zlobin-Omisalj gas pipeline

The government also adopted a decision to grant the Plinacro gas company a 30-year licence to use the maritime domain to build and operate the Zlobin-Omisalj gas pipeline in the area of the town of Kraljevica and Omisalj municipality. The construction of the pipeline is vital for the delivery of gas from a future terminal for liquefied natural gas to be built on the island of Krk.

"The gas pipline is of special importance for Croatia because its construction will ensure gas deliveries from the future LNG terminal on Krk to the Croatian and European markets," said Minister Butkovic.

Text: Hina

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