Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor has said that in 2010 her cabinet will attach top priority to the support and bailout programmes for the economy and that anti-corruption campaign will be one of planks of the government's work platform.
Talking to reporters, who asked her to explain her statement of yesterdaythat 2010 would be even tougher, Kosor said, after attending a convention ofthe Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) in Zagreb on Saturday, that her governmentwould do its utmost to see to it that it would not be so tough.
In this context she said that the government had been working intensivelyfor months on measures in connection of the bailout of the economy, such as aneconomic relief fund.
The premier explained that this would include the support to troubledcompanies that "stand a chance of surviving".
The aim is to preserve every job and, if possibly, create some new ones.This means the support to small and medium-sized entrepreneurship as well as tothe economy in its entirety, Kosor said.
She went on to say that plans would cover agriculture and tourism as thenext tourist season would likely be difficult.
She recalled that at the start of 2010 the government should deal with oneof the hardest tasks, the privatisation of shipyards.
"Therefore I say that it will be extremely difficult. We are makingefforts, however, there are a series of problems we are encountering,"Kosor said after attending the convention of the HSS, a junior coalitionpartner of her Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).
Asked by reporters about speculations that the payment of pensions from thestate budget might not go without hitches in 2010, the premier said that shebelieved that there would be no problems in this area.
"Even in this very difficult 2009 we managed to pay the portion of thedebt we should pay to pensioners this year, which means we ensured more thanHRK 833 million for this purpose," Kosor said announcing the same portionsof the debt to be paid in 2010, 211 and 2012 alike.
