He said Denona was replaced for failing to meet deadlines in merging maintenance and toll collection in the Croatian Motorways Maintenance and Toll Collection company, and Leskovic for an insufficiently swift restructuring of HZ's Cargo division.
HZ's Infrastructure division has made "the biggest historical step forward" in downsizing as well as in "optimising processes and in investments," followed by the Passenger Transport division, while the results in Cargo are poor, the minister said.
He said the incumbent management failed to "handle" the privatisation HZ Cargo was undergoing, which prompted the government to adopt a conclusion to replace them and appoint a rehabilitation council "that will enable Cargo to survive, not to file for bankruptcy, through swift and sharp cuts."
The minister said HZ Cargo's problem was a surplus of "1,200-1,500 workers. Cargo earns about HRK 30 million a month and its costs are HRK 60 million."
He said the government was trying to prevent bankruptcy in the company and that it hoped the unions in HZ Cargo would support it.
He said HZ Cargo workers would not get "classic notices of termination. There is a railway solidarity fund, where most employees can go. The gross salary is reduced to HRK 4,000, and then gradually, as HZ Cargo starts functioning, those workers can be called back because of an increased work volume or for redundancy pay. That's the only solution, there are no others."
He said the replacements would not delay the privatisation and leasing of HZ Cargo and ARZ.