According to a statement from the public relations office of the Croatian Bishops' Conference, the current coadjutor bishop Drazen Kutlesa has succeeded Milovan.

The pontiff accepted his resignation 'in compliance with canon law'.

But a recent history of the case indicates that the main reason for the resignation is dispute over the ownership of a historic monastery Dajla near Novigrad (Istria).

The monastery was built in the 18th century and was once owned by Italy's Benedictine order.  The property now belongs to the Croatian diocese of Porec and Pula, in accordance with the 1975 Osimo treaty signed between Italy and Yugoslavia. The Osimo Treaty stipulates that Italy, and not Yugoslavia (Croatia or Slovenia) undertook the responsibility of compensating its own citizens for property that was abandoned or lost in Istria after the Second World War. Consequently, the Benedictine order has  had already been compensated in accordancewith the Osimo Treaty and thus had no right to any additionalcompensation.

After setting up a special commission to resolve the dispute in December 2010, Pope Benedict XVI has ruled that the monastery should be returned to the Benedictines, together with some 6 million euros million in compensation. Porec and Pula Bishop Ivan Milovan has refused to agree to the property being handed over and was replaced by a Rome appointed bishop for the necessary time it took to sign the notarial deed that would have given up the property to the Italian Benedictines.

The issue has been complicated by the fact that part of the land attached to the monastery has been sold off and developed as a hotel and a golf course.