Croatia Names New Finance Minister as Primorac Moves

The news in Croatian

1. investicijski
   koji se odnosi na ulaganje novca radi ostvarivanja dobiti ↩︎
2. potpredsjednik  (m.)
   osoba koja je na položaju odmah ispod predsjednika neke organizacije ili države ↩︎
3. bivši
   koji je nekada bio na nekom položaju ili u nekoj ulozi, ali više nije ↩︎
4. zamjenik  (m.)
   osoba koja mijenja ili predstavlja nekoga drugoga na dužnosti ↩︎
5. guverner  (m.)
   čelna osoba središnje banke ili neke važne institucije ↩︎
6. oporba  (f.)
   stranke i političari koji nisu na vlasti i koji se protive vladi ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: Where is Marko Primorac going to work after leaving the job of finance minister?

Question 2: Why does the opposition criticize Tomislav Ćorić?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
investicijski	investment
potpredsjednik  (m.)	vice‑president
bivši	former
zamjenik  (m.)	deputy
guverner  (m.)	governor
oporba  (f.)	opposition

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The Croatian government has announced a significant change at the top of its economic and financial leadership. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković confirmed that current Finance Minister Marko Primorac will leave his post to become a vice-president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), while former minister and current central bank vice-governor Tomislav Ćorić has been nominated as the new Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

According to the government’s official statement, a telephone cabinet session approved Primorac as Croatia’s candidate for the EIB’s Management Committee, where he would serve a three‑year mandate. The move follows an invitation from the EIB for Croatia to propose a candidate to fill a soon‑to‑be vacant vice‑presidential seat representing the constituency of Croatia, Hungary and Poland. The appointment process will include assessment by the Bank’s internal bodies and a final decision by the Board of Governors, which consists of finance ministers from all 27 EU member states.

The timing of Primorac’s move is linked to the end of the mandate of current vice‑president Teresa Czerwińska from Poland. Within the EIB, member states are grouped into constituencies that rotate the vice‑presidential position. It is now Croatia’s turn in this rotation, after previous terms held by representatives from Slovakia and Poland. If confirmed, Primorac would be responsible for supervising EIB operations in Croatia, Hungary and Poland, along with additional policy areas to be agreed when he joins the Management Committee.

Prime Minister Plenković presented the European promotion as both a recognition of Primorac’s personal profile and of Croatia’s standing inside the EU. He argued that placing the sitting finance minister in such a role would strengthen Croatia’s influence in an institution he described as a key investment engine for the European Union and globally, especially for major projects in Croatia. Government sources also underlined that taking the EIB post was Primorac’s own career wish, which the prime minister decided to support.

Primorac has led the Finance Ministry for more than three and a half years. Economic analysts note that his term coincided with very high inflows of EU funds, which helped ease pressure on Croatia’s public finances despite a growing budget and a deficit near the EU’s reference limit of around three per cent of GDP. Among his more visible initiatives was opening state borrowing operations – such as government bonds and treasury bills – to wider participation by ordinary citizens. Other reforms, including projects related to tax policy, population registers and capital market development, are seen as still in progress, and observers say their full impact will only become clear in the coming years.

At the same time, experts point out that Croatia’s tax system has become more complex due to numerous exemptions introduced during recent reforms. Simplifying this framework and reviewing accumulated exceptions is expected to be one of the main tasks for the next finance minister. Commentators also remark that Primorac’s additional role as Deputy Prime Minister for the economy was in practice limited, as strategic economic decision‑making has largely remained centred in the prime minister’s office.

To fill the vacancy, Plenković has proposed Tomislav Ćorić, currently a vice‑governor of the Croatian National Bank (HNB), as both Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. The government has already forwarded his nomination to the Croatian Parliament (Sabor). Before the final vote, Ćorić is to be questioned by the parliamentary committee on finance, while Primorac will appear before the committee on European affairs regarding his EIB role. Plenković has said he expects the Sabor to vote on Ćorić’s appointment as early as Thursday, alongside a package of other laws, provided all procedures are completed in time.

Several ruling‑party officials and coalition partners have indicated that they will support Ćorić, and the prime minister stated he has already held telephone consultations with coalition parties. Government representatives, quoted in domestic media, argue that the reshuffle should be seen as a targeted change rather than a broader reconstruction of the cabinet. Earlier speculation about possible replacements in other ministries, including education or social policy, has for now not materialised, with Plenković signalling that he intends to limit personnel changes to the finance portfolio.

Ćorić is a well‑known figure in Croatian politics and public administration. Born in 1979 in the southern town of Metković, he studied economics at the University of Zagreb, where he earned his PhD in economics. He specialised in monetary policy during further training at the University of Greenwich in the United Kingdom, and has an academic background as a professor at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb. In the political sphere, he has already headed three different ministries: Labour and the Pension System (2016–2017), Environmental Protection and Energy (2017–2020) and Economy and Sustainable Development (2020–2022).

In 2022, the Sabor appointed him as a vice‑governor of the HNB, responsible for supervising banks and related regulatory sectors. He has also served on the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank and on the Board of Supervisors of the European Banking Authority. Publicly available asset declarations show that his salary at the central bank was significantly higher than that of a government minister, and that he owns property and savings, two loans and a small boat. Observers have therefore noted that, from a strictly financial and work‑life perspective, returning to a ministerial role is not the more comfortable option, which has fuelled discussion about his motives and political ambitions.

Prime Minister Plenković has described Ćorić as a trusted party member, an experienced minister and a person with whom he has long‑standing professional cooperation. In his comments to journalists, the prime minister highlighted Ćorić’s technical knowledge, political experience and relatively young age as reasons why he considers him suited to lead the Finance Ministry. Plenković said he expects him to continue the government’s policy of what he calls responsible management of public finances, sustained economic growth, high employment and maintaining an investment‑grade credit rating, combined with efforts to improve the business climate and the living standards of Croatian citizens.

The decision to bring Ćorić back into the cabinet has, however, prompted strong reactions from the political opposition. Opposition parties argue that his earlier ministerial record is controversial and have announced they will oppose his confirmation in parliament. They have repeatedly referred to the Krš–Pađene wind farm affair, a case involving allegations of favouring particular investors in the energy sector during his time as environment and energy minister. In that investigation, one of the suspects claimed that the ministry gave a positive opinion for the project even though, according to prosecution documents, not all conditions had been met.

Ćorić has consistently denied any wrongdoing in that case, stating that he has cooperated with Croatian investigative bodies and is ready to answer any questions if needed. The country’s anti‑corruption office, USKOK, questioned him but did not include him in the indictment. At the time, Plenković defended his minister, saying he still had full confidence in Ćorić and dismissing partial leaks from the investigation as unworthy of comment. Opposition politicians nonetheless maintain that the affair raises issues about government transparency and integrity, and have suggested that such unresolved controversies should disqualify him from returning to a top economic post.

Beyond Krš–Pađene, Ćorić’s previous ministerial mandates were accompanied by several other public disputes. Media reports focused on a legal challenge over an appointment to lead the Krka National Park, where the Administrative Court in Split found procedural problems in a selection process handled by his ministry and ordered the decision to be reviewed. Journalists also questioned his social contacts with a former state‑owned oil company executive later implicated in a separate corruption affair, including visits to a private club that became a symbol of alleged informal influence networks in Zagreb. In those cases, Ćorić said he was prepared to explain his actions to competent institutions but did not wish to engage in detailed public discussion of his private life.

From the government’s point of view, these episodes do not outweigh what it sees as Ćorić’s professional competence and continuity in implementing existing economic policy. From the opposition’s perspective, they are central to the evaluation of his suitability. As a result, the parliamentary confirmation hearing is expected to feature sharp exchanges between the ruling majority and opposition benches, with finance‑sector topics closely intertwined with broader debates about ethics and accountability in Croatian politics.

The reshuffle also has implications for Croatia’s central banking leadership. Before the latest developments, political commentators had viewed Ćorić as a serious potential candidate to succeed Boris Vujčić as governor of the Croatian National Bank. His move back into the executive branch makes that scenario less likely and, according to some reports, may increase the chances that another senior central banker, such as vice‑governor Sandra Švaljek, could eventually take the top post. More broadly, the near‑simultaneous European promotions of both Primorac and Vujčić – the latter being a candidate for vice‑president of the European Central Bank – have prompted debate in Zagreb about whether top national offices are increasingly being treated as stepping stones to EU‑level positions.

For international observers and language learners following Croatian politics from abroad, this episode illustrates how a relatively small EU member state manages its domestic leadership changes while integrating into the European institutional system. It shows the close link between national ministries, central banks and EU financial bodies such as the EIB and ECB. At the same time, the intense domestic discussion around Ćorić’s return underlines that questions of credibility, past controversies and political trust remain central to how such appointments are perceived inside Croatia.

Info: ‘Croatian Learner News’ is a service from ‘Let’s Learn Croatian’, a language school dedicated to helping people learn Croatian through various types of online courses and learning resources.