Croatia Vows to Meet State Asset Sales Target

Croatia's State Property Ministry told BIRN that it intends to meet the goal of earning around 128 million euros for the state budget, by selling state-owned property and stocks in non-strategic companies.

However, a report earlier this year said that by July the ministry had collected only 5.5 million euros out of planned 116.4 million from sales of stocks in those companies plus 5.4 million - out of a planned 12.3 million euros - from real estate sales.

"This budget commitment is foreseen until the end of the year - and we will certainly fulfil it," the ministry told BIRN.

Howver, the ministry declined to specify the likely dynamic of future sales, saying such predictions "cause speculative activities and damage, affecting the market price [of the property on offer]".

"We will accelerate the activation and sale of assets by engaging new staff that we will select through ongoing tenders," the ministry stated.

The ministry concluded that the law on managing state property would make tenders easier, while the ministry's efficient action would grow with changes to the decree on managing state property, as well as with the decision to sell state-owned apartments.

However, economic analyst Damir Novotny said he doubted the ministry would fulfil the plan, blaming this likely failure on "wrong estimates done by the ministry and a political fallacy that this property can bring in so much money".

"State-owned real estate is usually hard to sell, due to non-resolved ownership issues. As for sales of stocks in companies, we're talking about minority shares, for which important buyers aren't showing interest," he told BIRN.

He said better results would follow if and when the state sells off stocks in companies in which it has...