Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday that the head of the Central State Office for Reconstruction and Housing, Gordan Hanzek, would be dismissed and announced a change in the structure of institutions in charge of post-earthquake reconstruction.

Earlier in the day, Plenkovic relieved of duty Construction Minister Ivan Paladina and Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Natasa Tramisak.

Later he told the press he would nominate Branko Bacic, the HDZ party’s whip and vice president, for the new minister of physical planning, construction and state assets as well as a deputy prime minister, and Sime Erlic, the state secretary at Tramisak’s ministry, as her replacement.

Plenkovic said the fact that Bacic would be a deputy PM meant that he would be “the chief of the whole reconstruction process.”

He said Bacic was one of his closest friends and associates, “absolutely versed” in the government’s political and operational priorities.

Plenkovic recalled that Bacic had already held the office of construction minister, saying he was confident “that he will make a very big contribution to the reconstruction process. I expect him to step up very, very much and very visibly the reconstruction of Banija and other areas demolished in the (2020) earthquake.”

Plenkovic said talks were under way on changes in the structure of institutions in charge of the reconstruction in order to make important headway. “We will formalize it, propose it to parliament and step up all the processes.

He announced “quite a few changes” on that front, including Hanzek’d dismissal.

Asked if that meant the whole post-earthquake reconstruction system would be centralized, as mentioned, according to some media, by Paladina at a recent cabinet meeting, Plenkovic said it was not just a question of centralization.

“It’s a question of better organization and learning from what we noticed led, for some institutional reasons perhaps, to a slower pace of the whole process. We will do all that is necessary to step it up.”

Speaking of Erlic, a member of the HDZ Presidency and president of the party’s Zadar city branch, Plenkovic said he was very well-versed in all processes relating to regional development and EU fund absorption.

He said he knew about some media’s claims that the European Anti-Fraud Office was investigating a project on which Erlic had worked in Zadar and that they talked about it. “As far as we know, nothing is going on, except the articles in some media.”

Asked if Erlic was under investigation, Plenkovic said he did not know. Asked what would happen if he was, he said, “I don’t know, we’ll see.”

Speaking of Tramisak’s dismissal, he said it was due to a loss of trust. “As far as the government’s work is concerned, trust is the most important thing. In order to have a good team, you must have the utmost trust in your associates… and my estimate at this moment was that a fresh face was necessary in that office.”

Asked if the replacement of seven ministers meant that he was a bad selector or a difficult boss, Plenkovic said, “No, the job is difficult, it requires harmonious functioning. As for how many people left the government, they did and others came and are doing their job. There’s not much sentiment there.”

He looked back on the arrest, on suspicion of corruption, of former minister Darko Horvat on 19 February last year, and the subsequent investigations for corruption of former ministers Josip Aladrovic and Boris Milosevic, who were also indicted.

“That 19 February and that week was a watershed in this government’s term. It was not something we expected or knew, but we adapted to it. I was extremely sorry that we had to replace as many as three cabinet members, not just anyone but serious and politically very active people who had big prospects, and maybe they still do.”