President: Agrokor has drained the Government, we are all dealing with firefighting

President of the Republic Kolinda Grabar Kitarović stated in an interview with Globus that no individual is worth compromising all the good that has been done in the past ten months during the crisis with Agrokor, and she particularly worries, she emphasized, about the fact that the Agrokor case has drained so much energy from the Government that everyone is now dealing with firefighting instead of investments, opening new jobs, and reforming public administration.

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When asked about her disagreement with the Government regarding Agrokor and how she assesses the Government’s management of this crisis, the President of the Republic said: “Yes, I was very critical of the consultants’ fees. I think they are excessive, deeply immoral, and ultimately a conflict of interest. The latest information that Mr. Ramljak was, after being appointed as the Government’s commissioner, still employed at Texo Management for another twenty days, which later signed a million-dollar contract with Alix Partners, thus indirectly with Agrokor, in my opinion makes Mr. Ramljak’s position as the Government’s commissioner unsustainable.”

“One must be fair”

No individual is worth compromising all the good that has been done in the past ten months, she said in an interview she gave to Globus on Monday, February 19, the day she marked the third anniversary of her term and the day before the Government’s commissioner for Agrokor Ante Ramljak resigned.

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“One must be fair and acknowledge that this Government found itself in a crisis with Agrokor that did not arise overnight and in the circumstances it took responsibility and prevented the collapse of the economic system. What is good is that the situation has stabilized, that jobs and workplaces have been preserved. And this concerns a huge number of people. But I must also say that I am particularly worried about the fact that the Agrokor case has drained so much energy from the Government that everyone is now dealing with firefighting, rather than new investments, opening new jobs, and reforming public administration,” said the President.

First step

She also responded to a question about the visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to Croatia.

“Every journey, even the farthest and most difficult, begins with the first step,” said Grabar Kitarović, emphasizing that unnecessary debates should not be entered into and energy should not be wasted on questions on which there will obviously be no agreement. We must negotiate about a future in which there will never be war again, she said.

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She believes that Serbian President Vučić is a good interlocutor and that their meeting signifies a significant breakthrough in relations between Croatia and Serbia, which have been in deep stagnation for years.

“I regret that some wanted to thwart the visit of the Serbian President to Croatia. Some may have been, and understandably so, skeptical, carried away more by emotions than by reason, but, unfortunately, I sensed malice in some. I must say that there were open attempts to prevent Vučić’s visit and to hinder any progress. In all that cacophony, the positive effects and results of the visit were lost,” says in a large interview with Globus President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who is beginning her fourth year in office at Pantovčak.