The Podravka food manufacturer’s Supervisory Board appointed Dalić as the new president of the management board and her term lasts until 23 February 2022.
Dalić thanked the Board, which unanimously decided on her appointment, and shareholders for their trust, particularly the government as the largest single shareholder in this Kprivnica-based company.
She also thanked Prime Minister Andrej Plenković for his support and trust.
“Podravka is one of the largest Croatian companies, a regional company, a Koprivnica company and it is an exceptional honour to head a company with such a tradition,” Dalić underscored, adding that being at the helm of that company is a great responsibility.
As she said, she has spoken with the largest shareholders in the company, representatives of the state and pension funds who confirmed that their common aim is for Podravka to grow and develop, expressing their confidence that that is also the wish and expectation of workers, the local community and business partners.
Replying to reporters’ questions about Podravka’s future, Dalić said that she sees it as a “company that has an even stronger performance on the market, greater exports, as a company that uses new technology even more to improve business, profitability and productiveness.”
Asked how her engagement to head that Koprivnica food company came about and to comment on criticism that this is yet more proof that politics does not want to let go of Podravka, Dalić said that she was not in a position to comment on the process shareholders used and how they came to engage her for the job.
“I am personally exceptionally pleased that the largest individual shareholder – the government, supported my appointment,” she said and added that that means a lot but also represents additional responsibility because the ownership structure reflects the company and the state expects a lot from it but also at the same time, pension funds too expect a lot with regard to efficiency and profitability.
Asked about the Borg scandal which was the reason why she stepped down as the economy minister in the Plenković cabinet in 2017 and whether that could affect the company’s image, Dalić said that she explained her reasons for her resignation when she resigned as a deputy prime minister, and that she still stands by them. The background to all that, she said, are the results of the process of restructuring Agrokor.
“I can express my great satisfaction that that process succeeded and that Agrokor was bailed out, that the cost of the bail out was not covered by the state or the budget, which is something I advocated at the time. Hence, I think that the job done in Agrokor, which I conducted on behalf of the government on the most part with the help and support of the prime minister represents one great experience in fact and a great reference for this job. That is an economic process that succeeded and where we showed that here in Croatia we can manage big economic problems in a short period and with very favourable results for the economy and budget,” she underscored.
