Croatia Criticised for Plan to Lease Ex-Yugoslavia Resorts

Croatia's Ministry of State Property told BIRN that no legal grounds exist for returning or paying refunds for property that neighbouring countries held in Croatia before Yugoslavia broke up.

The ministry said issues of property succession were regulated by the Agreement on Succession Issues, which is in force in Croatia in accordance with the Law on the Confirmation of the Agreement on Succession Issues.

It pointed out that Annex G of the agreement does not give individuals or legal persons a basis for the return or payment for their pre-war property, noting, however, that such compensation could become possible if an additional bilateral agreement is concluded.

"Since bilateral agreements have not been concluded with Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina, the issue of property restitution cannot be considered," the ministry told BIRN.

The response comes after the ministry was criticised for announcing a tender on November 10 for 15 properties of the former Yugoslavia on the Adriatic coast.

Croatia's parliament in May adopted a law that allows the Zagreb government to rent out properties inherited from the former Yugoslavia, "until the issue of succession is resolved".

Croatian property management law allows unused ex-Yugoslav properties to be rented out as concessions for up to 30 years.

The 15 sites up for rent are former workers' resorts in Gradac, near Makarska, Rab, Biograd and Moru and Slano, where workers of Serbian or Bosnian companies spent their summer holidays.

Milorad Dodik, the outgoing president of Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity and now Serbian member of Bosnia's state presidency, last week said that Croatia was obliged to implement an agreement which says that all citizens and legal entities must be...