Today, in the presence of Branimir Jerneić, Assistant Minister for Railway Traffic, the transfer of office between the former and the new Management Board of the Croatian Railways (Hrvatske željeznice – HŽ), was completed.
Davorin Kobak, who up until now was performing the duty as director of HŽ-Cargo, was elected for the position of President of the Board of the Croatian Railways, a position formerly executed by Tomislav Josip Mlinarić. This was decided by the minister of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development of the Republic of Croatia, and the Assembly of the HŽ.
The position of temporary Deputy Board President, until recently carried out by Ivica Klarić Kukuz, was assigned to Marijan Klarić who used to be general manager of the Croatian Railways from 1996 to 1999.
In the first public statement, the new temporary president of the Board of HŽ, Davorin Kobak, emphasized that the transfer of office between the former and the new Board had started today, and that it would be finalized by October, 5th. For now, the new Board was not announcing any staff changes.
The first job of the new Board will be to screen the present situation and to realize necessary preparations for 2006. The new Board will focus on solving current problems and on enhancing the fleet, with special attention on solving the questions related to the repair of locomotives in cooperation with the Rolling stock factory 'Gredelj' and 'Končar'.
The main focus of the new Board’s business activities will be to concentrate on signing a new contract with the company 'Đuro Đaković' regarding the construction of new coaches, as well as to intensify the development of urban and suburban transport, for which the repair of the railway tracks towards Sisak is crucial.
The new President of the Board, Davorin Kobak stated that improvements on a technological level, firmer international cooperation and the development of successful business relations remained general but also very important business goals for the Croatian Railways.