Croatia and Slovenia seem to disagree on a number of points lately. The newest issue is the Croatian member of the two-member management of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK). Gen.Energija, the Slovenian co-owner of the NEK, recently extended ad interim the mandate of Stane Rožman, the long-term CEO of the power plant. This was done without the agreement of the Croatian partner, HEP, which is conditioning its consent to this extension by removal of the current Croatian member of the Board, Mr Hrvoje Peharić. HEP is also reportedly requesting that Mr Peharić be replaced by Mr Saša Medaković, current Head of Radiology and Nuclear Safety Institute. So far, it seems that the Slovenian side disagrees with Mr Medaković’s appointment and any kind of tit-for-tat on appointments.
According to Gen.Energija CEO, Mr Martin Novšak, they do not dispute Croatian right to replace its board member at any point in time, but they are “asking for it to be a person of appropriate qualifications and in line with global best practices”. He added that continuous professional education of Slovenian and Croatian personnel in the NEK is being conducted since 2006 for persons aiming at top management positions.
Should the Gen.Energija and the HEP fail to reach an agreement, Mr Novšak believes the sides would have to resort to arbitration.
Mr Peharić, the current Croatian member of the Board, stated that the “position that the NEK should allocate its contracts equally between Slovenian and Croatian contractors is a myth.” This is also at the core of his dispute with former Minister of Economy Ivan Vrdoljak, who according to Mr Peharić accused him back in 2015 of agreeing to reduce this ratio in favor of Slovenian companies causing damages to Croatian economy of around Kn 2 billion. According to Mr Peharić, this is just a diversion. The real problem is that the Croatian side “aggressively pushed its candidate who lacks qualifications”, thus causing the blockade.