The Minister of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development Božidar Kalmeta signed today agreements for the assignment of 24 scholarships to students attending maritime faculties in Rijeka and Split as well as the universities in Zadar and Dubrovnik.
This is the first time the Croatian Government has decided to financially support pupils and students of maritime high-schools and faculties, a project for which the Ministry of the Sea did secure HRK 1 million during the current year.
The 24 students, which were selected via a public tender organized during last spring, will be receiving HRK 1200 per month.
„By implementing the Maritime legal code, Croatia has become a genuine maritime country. All of that brought many improvements to the work of the ship carriers and by providing scholarships we are completing the whole process,” stated Kalmeta.
He also pointed out that Croatia was currently counting 33 thousand seamen, facing a shortage of professionals in that area. He announced that there would be organized additional scholarships for 150 high-school pupils and that they would be receiving HRK 800 per month.
The Minister also mentioned future attempts for the regulation of the status of Croatian seamen working for foreign companies. The Ministry is considering legal steps which would allow those seamen to achieve pay for social security in Croatia at the same price as domestic seamen.
The Minister also visited the island Dugi Otok, where he opened the water supply network for the town Soline and the reconstructed port of the town Zaglav. This project was financed by the Ministry with HRK 2 million.