Branko Bacic, whom the government has nominated as the new Minister of Physical Planning and Construction, told the relevant parliamentary committees on Monday that, if elected, he would change the reconstruction model, simplify the administrative process, and reduce the number of procedures by 40 percent.

Bacic said that the change of the model of post-earthquake reconstruction would include the unification of the implementing bodies, namely the Reconstruction Fund and the Central State Office for Reconstruction and Housing. He warned that the reconstruction process was not being conducted according to the same criteria or standards.

Bacic also said that the State Real Estate Agency, which has built 20,000 multi-residential buildings since its establishment in 2002, should be included in the reconstruction process.

Another step to accelerate the reconstruction would be simplifying the administrative process, he added.

Bacic is a long-standing member of Parliament, vice-president of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and chairman of the HDZ parliamentary group.

He said it was very difficult to make plans on the basis of the existing reconstruction system.

“Under the present legislative framework, the most responsible person for reconstruction is the minister of construction, and the law gives him very few instruments,” Bacic noted.

He said it was necessary to speed up and simplify the application procedure. “No one can manage the reconstruction process if they do not have a reconstruction plan, and there isn’t one. In order to have such a plan we need to have all applications in one place.”

Until such a plan becomes a reality, “predictions on further reconstruction can be based on what the ministry has and what is being implemented by the two implementing bodies,” he added.

Bacic said that if elected by Parliament on Tuesday he would reduce the number of participants in the reconstruction process and the number of procedures by 40 per cent when it comes to structural reconstruction and the construction of replacement housing. He called for a more suitable and more transparent public procurement, and said that over the next three weeks he would get a picture of the extent to which construction companies could respond to the requirements for reconstruction.

Bacic said there were two main priorities for this year — to spend €1.3 billion from the EU Solidarity Fund by the end of June and secure appropriate accommodation for the majority of 4,500 now living in containers before the next heating season. He said that people who would not be able to live in their homes would be provided with appropriate accommodation in prefab wooden houses.

Opposition and external members of the committees noted that after two years Bacic accepted all of their suggestions, such as a centralised institution and simplified administration.

Zvonimir Troskot (Most party) accused the ruling coalition of sacrificing people, saying that now they were trying to achieve a good election result with a couple of rebuilt apartments.

Bacic was introduced to the joint session of the Committee on Physical Planning and Construction and the Committee on Economic Affairs by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who announced changes to the legislative framework and procedure.