Croatia had nominated two candidates for important positions in European financial institutions in a very short period of time, Marko Primorac for Vice-President of the European Investment Bank and Governor Boris Vujčić for Vice-President of the European Central Bank.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković presented today at the Committee on European Affairs of the Croatian Parliament the candidacy of Marko Primorac for Vice-President of the European Investment Bank.

“Croatia has achieved incredible success in terms of positioning its officials in European financial institutions,” said the Prime Minister, emphasizing that until now we had not even been in a position to compete for such positions.

The success is all the greater, emphasized Prime Minister Plenković, because with Governor Vujčić’s entry into the Board of the European Central Bank, this position is held for the first time by someone from Central and Eastern Europe.

When this procedure was completed, he reported, the second one continued, and at the invitation of the European Investment Bank, Croatia nominated its candidate, Marko Primorac.

The next opportunity when Croatia will again have the chance to nominate someone for this position in the EIB will be in about 15 years from now.

Exceptional contribution to the implementation of the Government Program

Presenting the candidacy of Marko Primorac, the Prime Minister recalled his work to date. In addition to his academic career, he was also a consultant, and has been in the Government for almost four years, and in addition to his ministerial duties, he also held the position of Deputy Prime Minister responsible for the economy.

He has worked dedicatedly on the implementation of the Government Program, especially on activities aimed at ensuring continuous economic growth, high employment, low unemployment and responsible management of public finances.

Thanking him for his contribution to the work of the Government, Prime Minister Plenković particularly highlighted the issuance of government securities, which were offered to citizens for the first time, and a total of 15 treasury bills and three bonds have been issued so far.

This has dynamized the capital market, and by investing their savings in government securities, they have sent a message of confidence in the direction of state policy.

He also mentioned the country’s investment credit rating, which is at level A according to all three global agencies, with a stable or positive outlook.

Croatia will have its representative in the EIB’s top management

“In this way, we will have a Croatian representative in the top management of the European Investment Bank, an expert in finance and economics, who will help us to use this strongest multilateral financial institution even better for Croatian interests and for financing various projects,” said the Prime Minister.

He added that the European Investment Bank is also important for the private sector, emphasizing that as much as 1.7 billion euros have been invested in this sector, which is especially important for small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the backbone of the Croatian economy.

EIB as a financial lever for the European Union, including Croatia

Former Minister of Finance Marko Primorac said that the European Investment Bank, as a financial lever for the European Union, provides strong support to member states and globally in achieving the goals of the green and digital transition.

He emphasized that the European Investment Bank has also proven to be a strong partner to countries in the context of investments in security and defense, which he assessed as particularly important recently.

Primorac stated that a significant portion of the funds are also allocated for cohesion, and for strengthening production, business, and infrastructure potential in countries that are not only members of the European Union, taking as examples the countries of Africa, Central Asia, and Latin America. He added that they also have a strong footprint in Ukraine, reiterating that the EIB is a strong partner to all these countries in achieving strategic priorities.

He also said that Croatia must use this opportunity that has now opened up to it for its stronger positioning, and his role as Vice President is to ensure that the European Investment Bank effectively uses its instruments for the benefit of the European Union in general, and thus for the benefit of our country.

“I do not see this as leaving office and severing some ties, but as an additional step forward and strengthening the position of the Republic of Croatia abroad, with the aim of putting into function everything that is at our disposal in order to further strengthen economic growth and develop the Croatian economy,” Primorac said.