Marko Jelić: Solar power plants are not profitable for local units

Marko Jelić, the Šibenik-Knin County Prefect and former mayor of Knin, is running for parliamentary elections with a completely new party, officially named AP – Action for Change. The initials of the Prime Minister with the party’s abbreviation have nothing to do with each other, Jelić notes, who is otherwise a doctor of molecular biology and biochemistry with a doctorate from a German university. After his studies, he returned to Croatia, to his hometown of Knin, and for a while took care of the children while his wife studied, after which he got a job at the Entrepreneurship Center as an advisor for new technologies. However, he emphasizes that he was not a political appointee there; he worked ‘for a small salary with entrepreneurs and helped some quite a lot.’ He also engaged in science, served as dean and professor at the Polytechnic in Knin, and if politics does not ‘work out,’ he can always return to that position.

– I am proud to have participated in the establishment of the Polytechnic in Knin. It now has three study departments: Agriculture, Food Technology, and Economics, and a thousand students have already graduated from it; even the Deputy Prime Minister Anja Šimpraga was my student, as well as Marijo Ćaćić, the current mayor of Knin. The Polytechnic in Knin, like the one in Vukovar, was established as an entrepreneurial polytechnic, and we really worked with entrepreneurs, we also established the first polytechnic company, and we helped entrepreneurs start their businesses. I also had a teaching engagement at the University of Osijek, in Mostar… There were also several scientific projects, not as large as in Germany, but I would say I have an academic and scientific career. Before a political one, for sure.

What project are you most proud of during your time as mayor of Knin?

– On equality.

What does that mean?

– Before we took over the management of the city, no one could reach the mayor. I received more than a thousand parties, ordinary citizens, in four years of my term, and my deputies certainly received as many. In Knin, the issues of nationality, religion, and party affiliation are quite pronounced, and as mayor, I opened the doors to all people. Another thing I am proud of is the fact that when I became mayor, the rigging of tenders stopped. It was well known in Knin that members of a certain party would win job tenders or public procurements for the City, which was not even hidden. We owed nothing to anyone, nor did we have ‘our’ people to employ for political support. Furthermore, when we closed some holes through which money was literally leaking, such as representation costs and the like, suddenly the City began to generate higher revenue, so we could also increase some allowances, such as child benefits. We bought the devastated factory Kninjanka from the Adriatic Bank in the center of Knin, renovated it, and now, the Austrian investor PicoPack is about to start working there, with machines already being installed. Life has returned to Knin; people are not leaving the city, they are renovating houses, yards, there are more and more children, young people…

How much has Knin’s GDP increased?

– I do not know the exact data.

After Knin, you are moving to the county level. Was that the goal, a career in politics?

– That was not my goal. After my term as mayor, I thought about giving up politics and returning to my teaching career, but friends, independent mayors and municipal leaders in the county, persuaded me to try as a candidate for prefect.

And you defeated HDZ again.

– It seems they recognized something in me.

How would the Šibenik-Knin County function today and what revenues would it generate without tourism income?

– There is no mystery here; that income means a lot to us. Tourism is important because it brings 25 percent of direct income to the county, but we are the county with the most industry per capita on the Croatian Adriatic. We have Aluflexpack, DIV Group, Iskra Shipyard, PicoPack is coming to Knin, Knauf Insulation, TLM; Impol TLM, Dalmacijavino, Vinoplod, Drnišplast, etc., all excellent manufacturing and industrial companies.

How long does it take to get a building permit in the county?

– Since we took over power, we have reduced the waiting time from 103 to 77 days.

What has changed?

– We reorganized the office for issuing permits. The workspace there was indeed inappropriate, and we have changed that as well. However, it was quite important to prescribe norms, as well as to value good work, which we also introduced.

Nothing without a carrot and a stick?

– There was no stick; I am not a proponent of that, except in extreme necessity. I teach this to children and students as well. The goal is for a person to correct their own mistakes.

So, the mistakes were unintentional, not aimed at extorting some investor, for example?

– I believe it was not like that. If it was, I would have reported it immediately, as would my associates.

Are potential investors coming to you, what interests them the most? Tourism or some other activity?

– They are coming. We have large investors; Aluflexpack recently invested more than 70 million euros, Impol TLM is also a very large investment, and besides that, it is a strategic project of the state. We recently issued a permit for a large tourist project in Primošten. A large number of investors interested in renewable energy sources are also coming, which is why we have significant pressure on our services regarding spatial planning documentation. I am not alluding to the wind farm project, which some others have promoted, but I am talking about the impact on space and landscape. When you climb to the highest peak in Croatia, Dinara, wherever you look, you see only wind farms. I am not against wind farms, but their construction was chaotic. Now we do not have pressure to build wind farms; the focus is now on solar fields. True, this is a significant investment opportunity, and for it to be fully realized for the benefit of the residents and the local community, the state must change the collection of utility contributions, fees, and everything else, because the current method of construction and plans for setting up such plants do not benefit local government units, and they have no interest in approving such projects.

What are the expectations from local government units when it comes to such projects?

– For us, solar power plants are not profitable. This is our space, the space of our children, our ancestors; we give it for some activity, and we do not gain anything from it. No one is employed here long-term. Yes, we have one lipa for every kilowatt of electricity produced, but that is really ridiculous, and I believe we deserve much more. Especially since our space has been taken for 30 years or more. There is a way to compensate the community whose territory is occupied, to feel that we have received something in return, to build something else from those funds. For example, a school or a kindergarten, something that would not drive our fellow citizens into exodus. We also have demographic problems, and if we only complain, we will not solve anything. In this case, money would help solve many issues.

Is that the reason you are running for elections?

– Well, yes.

What kind of team for the parliamentary elections has Marko Jelić gathered and with what economic program is he running for elections, read in the printed or digital edition of the weekly Lider.