Croatia, the War, and the Future

Croatia’s entry fee

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inavukic

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The planned demise of the shipyards will complete Croatia’s deindustrialisation – social disaster on the horizon even though the Croatian government is trying to make the people believe it’s doing everything it can to protect the interests of Croatian citizens and their right to be productive, to have jobs

Old Boy's avatarmisebogland

Engineer Duje Kovai, who has worked in the shipyard at Split for 40 years, asks: “Why does Europe want to stop Croatia building ships?” He has no answer. The country has a long coastline and history of sailors, fishermen and shipbuilders, but EU membership will probably put an end to one of its oldest industries. The yards had to be completely privatised before Croatia officially joined the EU on 1 July.

Croatia had five shipyards, dating back to the 19th century: Uljanik in Pula, and 3-May at Rijeka, Kraljevica, Trogir and Split. They were the economic backbone of the coastal regions. Ships built in Yugoslavia used to sail the world, and for decades Dalmatia’s shipyards rivalled those of Trieste and Saint-Nazaire. Shipbuilding was key to the political imagination of the socialist years: Josip Broz Tito had worked as a mechanic at Kraljevica in the 1920s. Split’s history is linked with the shipyard:…

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10 responses to “Croatia’s entry fee”

  1. Aliosa Avatar
    Aliosa

    @ Buna ziua !
    Felicit CROATIA pentru aderarea la Uniunea Europeana !
    Felicit fermitatea parlamentarilor din CROATIA pentru verticalitate vis-a-vis de neacceptarea monitorizarii de catre UE pe linia justitiei !
    Felicit MEDICII din CROATIA pentru recentele performante medicale ( transplanturi de organe … ) !
    Felicit administratorul acestui blog pentru cele postate !
    O saptamana minunata !
    Cu respect,
    Aliosa.

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    1. inavukic Avatar
      inavukic

      Google translate of comment by Aliosa:
      Hello!
      Commends Croatia for accession to the European Union!
      I congratulate the Croatian parliament verticality firmness vis-a-vis rejection line monitoring of EU justice!
      I commend the recent Croatian doctors performing medical (organ transplants …)!
      I congratulate the administrator of this blog posting!
      A wonderful week!
      Regards,
      Aliosha.

      REPLY: Thank you Aliosha for your feedback and your comment. Much appreciated

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  2. Roko Avatar
    Roko

    The Story of a shipping industry and engineer who complain so hard about losing Croatia shipyards is nothing short of Tragedy. He must be living in the past believing in info biro and glory of communism, with his head buried 6 feet in the send. He has to wake up and smell the roses, because he is in the new world where if you are smart, work hard, do good quality job and be honest with your workers and clients you will do well. There is no more subsidizing unprofitable industry this is passé my friend

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    1. inavukic Avatar
      inavukic

      To a point you’re right Roko however I do know that governments do subsidise important industries to a point and expect results etc…Croatian government has acted here appallingly.

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  3. Roko Avatar
    Roko

    I read in Croatia dailies many times over that all the shipyards all across Dalmatia had been losing money every year, even under communism. So what kind of business is that?? Who is benefiting?? Now this engineer is complaining that the new owner is getting 80 million from the government, which is wrong, the truth is that the shipyard lost 80 million last year, and the government is responsible to cover the losses

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    1. inavukic Avatar
      inavukic

      Roko – Croatia has had a string of incompetent governments and regretfully people suffer because of it – shipbuilding is/was a key industry funded by government who failed to require restructuring or positive trends, requalification etc while the deficit operating lasted – they just let it slide downward on purpose I think – they planned all along to run it down, do favours that way to other countries who have retained shipbuilding…

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  4. Roko Avatar
    Roko

    You see I am pro business & private enterprise, and I don’t want government to be in any kind of business, because they just don’t know how the business is run. Regardless what it is i.e. garbage collection, hydro, water supplies, post office, shipping, transportation and anything else under the sky? The government is just not good to manage business and be competitive with individual entrepreneur on the plain level field.
    This has been proven many times over, because of the fact that they have a huge birocracy, complacency, don’t know how to innovate, laziness, huge labor force, inefficiency, and they are just not qualified to manage. Government is only good to spend your tax dollars to no end.
    If you look around the world everything is getting privatized i.e. airports, hospitals, highways, post offices, hydro, telephone & everything you can think of. I can’t think of any business where the government did well in spite of resources they h

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    1. inavukic Avatar
      inavukic

      I agree Roko gov no good in doing business and it looks like they don’t want to admit it. Political elitism does much damage indeed

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  5. Roko Avatar
    Roko

    I think Mr. Tudjman had a good idea when he tried to privatize the Croatian industry, but what happened he gave all the wealth of the country to wrong people (his bodies) who didn’t have foggiest idea how to manage enterprises, factories etc., and everything went down the hill to disaster one bankruptcy after another.
    If the shipbuilding was privatized many years ago, you would have seen today one modern enterprise with huge number of well paid labor-force ready to compete with anyone in the world.

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    1. inavukic Avatar
      inavukic

      Yes Roko – the saddest thing in this economy saga is that Tudjman did say Croatia would need to utilise advice and teaching from those in the West who had the knowhow but this did not happen as the boys who think they know everything took over the reins… yes I agree shipyards should have been privatised a long time ago and today they’d still be breathing albeit with a different orientation in jobs/production maybe but they’d be breathing with jobs. Both HDZ and SDP should be crucified for letting the shipyards go…

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Hello,

I’m Ina

I was born in Croatia and live Australia. I have been described as a prominent figure known for my contribution to the Croatian and wider societies, particularly in the context of Croatia’s transition from communism to democracy, as well as for my many years of work as a clinical psychologist and Chief Executive Officer of government-funded services for people with disabilities, including mental health services, in Australia. In 1995, the President of the Republic of Croatia awarded me two Medals of Honor, the Homeland War Memorial Medal and the Order of the Croatian Trefoil for her special merits and her contribution to the founding of the Republic of Croatia.  I have been a successful blogger since 2011 and write extensively in the English-language on issues related to Croatian current affairs and democracy, as well as the challenges Croatia faced and still faces in its transition from communism. My goal is to raise awareness of these connections and issues worldwide.

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