As Morski writes on the 17th of April, 2020, Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic, spoke to RTL Today (Danas) about new measures being prepared by his particular ministry.
”There was no discussion at the state level about the arrival of Czech tourists to Croatia. It ‘ too early to talk about that at the moment, such a scenario, meaning the the arrival of Czechs or any other foreign nationals is not possible at this moment in time. It’s necessary to consider the epidemiological situation in Croatia and in whichever other country. However, the scenario should slowly start being prepared that this situation will normalise and that the curve of those infected by coronavirus will begin to fall across all countries, and that’s why all of us ministers have been given the task of preparing measures for when that moment comes by the Prime Minister,” Oleg Butkovic said.
His department has done its part, he says, they have prepared a number of measures that they think should be discussed, and epidemiologists will need to provide their concluding statements on all this.
”We believe that in the transport sector, some measures should be eased, and public transport should, we believe, be gradually introduced, for example on a Sunday timetable. In regard to maritime transport, we propose to introduce some Zadar-Ancona catamaran lines just for freight. The current topic is also the formation of transit traffic through Croatia, in this part, we think that it should be considered that it no longer be done with police escorts but with the existing corridors, and that you can stop only in certain places,” said Oleg Butkovic, emphasising once again that everything will eventually be decided on by the epidemiologists.
One possible idea could particularly appeal to Croatian citizens, and that is the cheaper use of the motorways for them.
”We’re also considering the possibility of reduce the [road] toll in the summer for Croatian citizens. By about 10 or 20 percent, but these are all things that are still being discussed and will continue being discussed,” Oleg Butkovic said.
Oleg Butkovic’s ”field” has been among the worst hit by the coronavirus crisis, with transport having all but been halted. Croatia Airlines, which has been falling short for a considerable amount of time now, and since long before the pandemic broke out, is another victim of it.
”The government will do everything to save these companies. This crisis has not only affected Croatia, we’re going to seek a common solution at the EU level,” assured Butkovic.
”None of this really depends on us, but on the situation with the coronavirus and the number of patients there are, but we’re preparing everything to normalise the situation in Croatia as soon as possible,” he concluded.
Follow our dedicated section for more on coronavirus in Croatia.
