Parliament confirms Šima Erlić and Branko Bačić as new ministers

Croatian Parliament voted in Branko Bačić and Šima Erlić as new ministers in the Government of the Republic of Croatia.

Bačić - Minister of Construction, Spatial Planning and State Property

Croatian Parliament confirmed Branko Bačić as the new Minister of Construction, Spatial Planning and State Property and Deputy Prime Minister, after which he was sworn in. He received the votes of 77 out of a total of 151 MPs in Parliament. 51 MPs voted against, there were no abstentions, and MPs applauded the voting results.

In his new position, he succeeded Ivan Paladina, who left the ministry that was burdened by slow and inefficient reconstruction of Banovina and Zagreb. Prior to that, Bačić received majority support for his program at a joint session of the Spatial Planning and Construction Committee and the Economy Committee yesterday. In his career, the vice-president of the Croatian Democratic Union was already the minister of construction, spatial planning and environmental protection.

Bačić has been elected as a Croatian Democratic Union MP several times. After entering Parliament in 2003, he was appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of the Sea, Transport, Tourism and Development, and after being re-elected as a representative in 2007, he froze his mandate due to his appointment as State Secretary in the Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure. He was also the mayor of the municipality of Blato on Korčula, and in 2010 he sat in the minister's chair for the first time. That year, after the reconstruction of the Government, he was appointed Minister of Construction, Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection.

After the parliamentary elections in 2011, he was re-elected as a member of the Croatian Parliament, where he held the position of president of various parliamentary committees, and in 2016 he became the president of the Croatian Democratic Union's Club of Representatives. He has been a member of the Croatian Democratic union since 1990. On three occasions he was elected president of the Croatian Democratic Union County Board of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, of which he is the current president. Since 2008, he has been a member of the Presidency of the Croatian Democratic Union, and he held the position of Croatian Democratic Union Head Secretary from 2009 to 2012.

Bačić was born in 1959, he graduated from the Faculty of Geodesy in Zagreb and holds a degree in geodesy engineering.

Erlić - Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds

Šime Erlić also received the confidence of Croatian Parliament to take over the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, after which he took the oath. He received the votes of 77 out of a total of 151 MPs in the Parliament. One representative abstained, and 51 were against.

In his new position, he succeeded Nataša Tramišak, who was dismissed by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković as part of the latest mini-reconstruction of the Government. On Monday, the Parliamentary Committee for Regional Development and EU Funds supported Erlić as the new Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds with seven votes for and one against, Sanja Radolović from the Social Democratic Party.

Representing him at the competent parliamentary committee, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković emphasized how important it is for Croatia to develop evenly regionally. He pointed out that Erlić's entire career was related to regional development policy and the use of EU funds. Namely, until now Erlić was the state secretary in the Ministry, before that he worked in the county agency for regional development and in the administrative department for EU funds of the City of Zadar.

Šime Erlić was born in Zadar in 1985, he has a degree in economics, is married and has three children. He is a member of the Croatian Democratic union Presidency and the president of the Zadar city organization of the Croatian Democratic union. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Croatian Agency for Small Business, Innovation and Investment.

According to his asset card, he is the owner of a 50 square meter apartment in Zadar worth HRK 697,500 and a Peugeot 5008 car worth HRK 170,000. As of 2021, he is liable for two loans - in Privredna banka Zagreb in the amount of EUR 40,000 and another in OTP bank in the amount of HRK 102,900.

Source: HRT