ZAGREB, Sept 27 (Hina) - The pension reform starts on January 1 next year, and as of November 15 citizens will be able to register for the second pillar of pension reform and chose the mandatory pension fund, said Dragan Kovacevic,
head of the Agency for the Supervision of Pension Funds and Insurance (HAGENA). The Croatian government today supported a report on completed tasks regarding the pension reform and those to be carried out by the end of this year. The tasks to be completed by the end of this year include the adoption of a law on the payment of obligatory contributions, the inclusion of reform costs into next year's budget (estimated at around three billion kuna), defining the public debt policy in relation to investments into pension funds, and the adoption of a decision on the restructuring of the Payment Operations Bureau given the link between the pension reform and the reform of payment operations. T
ZAGREB, Sept 27 (Hina) - The pension reform starts on January 1 next
year, and as of November 15 citizens will be able to register for the
second pillar of pension reform and chose the mandatory pension
fund, said Dragan Kovacevic, head of the Agency for the Supervision
of Pension Funds and Insurance (HAGENA).
The Croatian government today supported a report on completed tasks
regarding the pension reform and those to be carried out by the end
of this year.
The tasks to be completed by the end of this year include the
adoption of a law on the payment of obligatory contributions, the
inclusion of reform costs into next year's budget (estimated at
around three billion kuna), defining the public debt policy in
relation to investments into pension funds, and the adoption of a
decision on the restructuring of the Payment Operations Bureau
given the link between the pension reform and the reform of payment
operations.
The government is satisfied with the privatisation process being
accelerated but not with the state of state property, which is
located in different ministries and institutions, which is the
reason why it has not been listed yet. Another problem is the
immobility of the property. Therefore, the Croatian Privatisation
Fund (HFP) and the Office for Property Management have been
entrusted with registering the state property within a month's time
and suggesting to the government that the management of the state
property be such so as to stimulate business, meet the needs of the
state administration and public services and local government and
self-government.
Reporting about the state of the state portfolio and privatisation,
HFP president Hrvoje Vojkovic said the portfolio had been unified,
with the number of companies having been reduced from 1,850 to
1,203, total and daily losses having been reduced as well - daily
losses dropped from the previous 7.3 to 3.7 million kuna
(USD893,512 to 452,876), etc.
Over the past year and a half the HFP privatised a total of 877 share
packages, i.e., 647 companies, in line with different
privatisation models. This year alone, revenues from privatisation
according to the model of bid collection reached 432 million kuna
(USD52.87 million), while another 277 million kuna (USD33.90
million) were collected according to the model of covering capital
spending.
The Fund is devising special privatisation plans together with 95
strategically important companies, including those from farming
and shipbuilding industries, and major industrial companies, such
as TLM (from Sibenik) and "Djuro Djakovic". For positive trends to
continue, one must adopt a new privatisation law, which would solve
the issue of small shareholders and privatisation according to the
employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).
The government has proposed several bills for parliamentary
debate, including the one on the participation of the Croatian
armed forces, police, civil defence, and civil servants in peace
operations and other activities abroad.
(hina) sb rml