Monitoring Desk
SERBIA: The poor progress being made in rebuilding the country’s earthquake-stricken regions, according to Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, led to the dismissal of the ministers in charge of construction, regional development, and EU subsidies.
To announce the changes in the cabinet, Plenkovic held a press conference on January 11 in Zagreb, the country’s capital. Ivan Paladina, the minister of construction, has frequently come under fire for his slowness to repair Petrinja’s homes, which were largely devastated when a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near the town in December 2020. This was despite the European Union providing $759 million in aid in the amount of €700 million.
Croatia was struck by earthquake of magnitude 5.3 in 2020
The recovery of Banija, a region close to the capital Zagreb that was struck by an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 in March 2020, also made insufficient progress. Plenkovic claimed that the government replaced Natasa Tramisak, minister of regional development and EU funds, with Branko Bacic due to his political intellect and knowledge of the energy sector, and Sima Elric due to his familiarity with all procedures relating to regional development and the use of EU funds.
“I consider it acceptable and necessary to replace them as of today for the remainder of our mandate, approximately a year and a half,” stated Plenkovic. Since 2020, Elric has served as a state secretary for the ministry of regional development.
