Only rapid privatization of CA or HŽ Cargo can prevent monetization

The Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Siniša Hajdaš Dončić, stated today that the monetization of highways does not mean their sale, reiterating that the aim of granting highways on concession is to reduce public debt and make the state budget sustainable in the long term.

Minister Hajdaš Dončić today, at the Lučko toll station, along with Health and Tourism Ministers Rajko Ostojić and Darko Lorencin, distributed leaflets from the Ministry of Health to tourists with recommendations on how to protect themselves from high temperatures during the summer months.

Journalists asked him what would happen if monetization of highways and the sale of state-owned companies did not occur.

‘It will be very difficult to control public debt,’ Hajdaš Dončić replied, reiterating that this will happen ‘if rapid privatization of some non-strategic companies does not occur.’ In this context, the minister emphasized, ‘we are not talking and will never talk about the privatization of water and forests’ but about companies ‘that are actually on the market’ such as Croatia Airlines and HŽ Cargo.

– Likewise, the monetization of highways, or the concession of highways, does not mean their sale. Our primary goal is to preserve public finances, not to go into further restrictions regarding, for example, salaries of public sector employees, pensions, but to reduce public debt in this way and make the state budget sustainable in the long term – said Hajdaš Dončić.

When asked for a comment on the assessment by HDZ leader Tomislav Karamarko that the government is selling off the ‘family silver’, Hajdaš Dončić replied that he does not understand what the family silver is.

– Is it something that is already on the market anyway? Is it a commercial bank that operates on market principles? What does it mean – that since it is state-owned, as in the past, loans will be given to those who do not deserve loans? – Hajdaš Dončić responded with counter-questions and stated ‘not an option.’