Bridge president Bozo Petrov said on Tuesday the party would play an important role in next year's local election in Zagreb and that Zvonimir Troskot would be its commissioner for Zagreb.

Asked by the press if Troskot would be the party’s candidate for mayor, Petrov said Bridge would reveal the candidate’s name when the time came.

Speaking about the allegedly dramatic situation in Zagreb’s Dubrava hospital, he said the relevant services should transparently inform the public about what was going on and that if what had been published turned out to be incorrect, someone should be held to account.

He called on the media to contribute to uncovering the truth through investigative journalism.

As for coronavirus measures, Petrov said a lockdown would be pointless for the economy and that it would not significantly stop the virus, adding that it was necessary to prevent the health system from being overwhelmed.

That’s what the measures are for, not to shut down the entire system for several months, he said.

The measures should be balanced with the burden on the health system and we must learn to live with this respiratory disease, he added.

Asked about the idea to establish a national drug wholesaler, Petrov said the problem was not that Croatia did not have one but that the government did not respect the law which stipulated that HRK 1.5 billion would be set aside for vulnerable groups.

They took HRK 500 million from the HZZO (Croatian Health Insurance Fund) to settle the debt to drug wholesalers and now the HZZO lacks that money for prescription drugs, he said, urging the government to reform the system.

If drug wholesalers were paid regularly, drugs would be much cheaper, he said, adding that drug prices in Croatia were higher than in neighbouring countries because wholesalers calculated the expected late payments by the government into the prices.

The only ones suffering are taxpayers, he said, adding that this should be changed instead of establishing a state-owned drug wholesaler.

Asked if Bridge would support a 2020 state budget revision, he said the party would put forward its own proposal.

(€1 = HRK 7.57)