ZAGREB, Jan 14, 2018 – Members of parliament of the Bridge opposition party have met in Krizevci for a two-day meeting to review the party’s work in 2017 and define goals and a strategy for this year, party leader Bozo Petrov told reporters.
“To us, it’s extremely important that Croatian society be just, that the system be transparent, efficient, not just in the judiciary and public administration, but in all segments and… that entrepreneurs be the ones with a good framework for job creation and that this is the reason why people will stay in Croatia,” Petrov said.
Bridge will present a set of enterprise bills and forward them to parliament to enable entrepreneurs to be more competitive, to facilitate exports and job creation, he said, adding that the party would also present a public administration action plan and continue with the judicial reform.
As for the INA oil company, Petrov said Bridge remained for its buyout but that the incumbent government “is doing nothing about it.”
He said “the story about INA’s buyout was actually a story about the sale of (power utility) HEP… We still believe that INA is extremely important and should be bought out, that there is a way to do so that won’t increase the public debt and that, with the help of INA and HEP, we can build a future in which Croatia will be independent in terms of energy.”
“For 20 years HEP has not developed, although it could have acquired at least one company every year, given the amount of the annual revenue. But it’s not too late for HEP to become a regional leader. It’s not too late to embark on INA’s takeover either. It only has to be decided,” Petrov said, wondering if the government intended to do it.
“Given the way the function, in the end citizens will bear the brunt, although it shouldn’t be like that,” he said.
