Nikica Valentic, a former prime minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) parliamentary deputy in two terms, died on Wednesday at the age of 73.

Valentic, born in 1950 in the village of Bilaj near the town of Gospic in the Lika-Senj County, graduated from the Law School of the University of Zagreb.

He served as Prime Minister from April 1993 to November 1995, and as a Member of Parliament from 1992 to 1993 and from 1995 to 2000.

During his premiership, the kuna was introduced as Croatia’s official currency in 1994, and Operations Flash and Storm were carried out in 1995 when most of the occupied areas of the country were liberated.