Intensifying cooperation with local and regional government units and updating records of state-owned real estate are some of the priorities of the newly-appointed Minister of State Assets, Mario Banozic.

“One of the first steps will be to intensify cooperation with local and regional government units, primarily because we have over 7,500 requests from them. By dealing with these requests, we will help counties, towns and municipalities with their investment cycles and activities,” Banozic told Hina in an interview.

He said he expected assistance from local government units in registering state-owned real estate in their areas.

“In a considerable number of cases, data from the Ministry’s internal records does not match facts on the ground, which is why we are correcting and upgrading the register on an ongoing basis. Our aim is to resolve property-related issues in local government units, and the prerequisite for it is accurate real estate records,” the new minister said.

He said that the action plan accompanying the letter of intent to adopt the Euro provided for a tender or a similar procedure to reduce the state’s stake in companies in which its stake is less than 25 percent.

Asked if he would continue the policy of his predecessor, Goran Maric, and if there would be any novelties in his work, Banozic said that a lot had been done in the last three years since the Ministry was established, citing the creation of the legal framework, including the State Property Management Act, the Commercial Premises Lease and Sale Act and the Unappraised Building Land Bill, which has been put to public consultation and will be on the government agenda late in September.

“Conditions have been created for the activation and revival of state assets. A lot of work lies ahead of me and my associates. We will do everything to put all state assets to use and thus contribute to the state budget,” Banozic said.

Asked which state assets had the greatest prospects, he cited unappraised tourism land, former military properties, apartments, commercial premises and garages.