New Croatian PM Has Major Reforms in Mind

Media reports in Croatia have suggested that Oreskovic's government will focus on reforms of the public administration and the healthcare system, as well as on reducing the number of state agencies.

Reform of the state administration is one of the changes that has been strongly advocated by the Bridge of the Independent Lists, MOST, the party that played a crucial role in Oreskovic's nomination as premier.

According to same sources, Oreskovic's government will focus on three major infrastructural projects: a lowland railway line between the capital Zagreb and the coastal city of Rijeka, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the island of Krk and an irrigation scheme in the eastern region of Slavonia, the centre of Croatia's agricultural production.

The Zagreb-Rijeka railway line is intended to transport goods from the coastal port to Central Europe through the Croatian capital.

Croatia's outgoing centre-left government backed the project in December 2012, but the idea was criticised by then opposition centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, which is now becoming part of the country's new government.

The Krk LNG terminal is a project on which the outgoing government worked on for several years, and is potentially important for supplying Croatia and Central Europe with gas.

As well as naming the Krk terminal a "strategic investment project" in July, LNG Croatia, the state company responsible for constructing the terminal, opened a tender for potential investors the same month.

The start of construction was set for mid-2016, while completion was scheduled for within three years.

Oreskovic, a pharmaceutical industry executive with no previous career in politics, was unexpectedly named prime minister designate...