ZAGREB, June 2, 2018 – Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday that President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović obviously liked what the MOST party was doing and that her statement praising that party was possibly aimed at expanding her voter base. “She obviously fancies what MOST has been doing. My experience with MOST was bad, but maybe she has been trying to broaden her voter base,” Plenković said while answering questions from the press in Kutina, where he attended a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the local artificial fertiliser factory Petrokemija.
“I can see that MOST is bragging about having authored the referendum question that is deeply discriminating against members of parliament representing ethnic minorities,” Plenković said, adding that MOST was trying to drag Croatia decades backward. He said that he was “somewhat surprised that the president is praising a team like that.”
“There are no such politicians here, I can’t see them,” he said when asked to comment on the statement Grabar-Kitarović made earlier in the day in Osijek, when she criticised the political elite for having alienated itself from the people. “If someone is among the people, then that is us,” he said, adding that it was his government that had secured a two billion kuna worth projects for Osijek.
Answering questions about depopulation trends, Plenković said that that problem had been burdening Croatia for 70 years and that neither the president nor the incumbent government were responsible for demographic problems that had started after World War II. He noted that Croatia was not the only country with negative demographic trends.
That is a huge problem but it has been dealt with by government measures practically since the second session of the incumbent government, he said, adding that economic progress was not the only way to reverse negative demographic trends.
Demographic revitalisation requires a mentality change and optimism in society, he said, adding that constantly insisting on negative trends would not result in anything good and could only cause despondency. The government cannot cope with the problem of negative demographic trends alone, depopulation trends are a broader phenomenon that requires all stakeholders assuming their share of responsibility, said Plenković.
Plenković was also asked to comment on a letter sent by the Franck company to the Commercial Court, in which it says that it will use all legal means available to protect its rights as a creditor of the ailing Agrokor food and retail conglomerate.
“I believe that a lot has been done, we have found an optimal solution to an extremely complex problem,” the PM said, adding that the settlement agreement with Agrokor’s creditors would be published next week.
He said that Agrokor’s creditors were satisfied with the agreement to a large extent. It is unrealistic to expect all stakeholders to be entirely satisfied, he said, adding that the emergency administration had done a huge job and that most of Agrokor’s suppliers and companies had a future and had saved jobs.
Speaking of Petrokemija, which is expected to be recapitalised, Plenković said that he was confident that his government’s measures had enabled the continuation of production in Petrokemija.
The fifty years of Petrokemija and its importance for production, employment and exports in Croatia is a basis for the continuation of its modernisation and the reason for the government’s clear commitment to finding a long-term, sustainable model for its future operation, the PM said.
