"The cooperation is good. The main task of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Kovacic is to deal with the reform of state administration, to make it more efficient and less costly. These irrelevant, marginal issues will not divert me or this government from what is important, and that is economic growth and development. Kovacic did not offer his resignation nor was that an issue," Plenkovic told the press after a conference on the business environment in Croatia.
The question of Kovacic's resignation arose after the Public Administration Ministry hired two former officials from the government of Social Democrat Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic. The hiring prompted a reaction from HDZ MP Josip Djakic, who criticised Kovacic for it, after which Kovacic's special adviser Ivica Relkovic announced a possibility of Kovacic resigning unless Djakic apologised.