The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the regional Croatian Democratic Party of Slavonia and Baranja (HDSSB) were the only parties to submit amendments to the government's 2012 budget proposal on Tuesday, filing about 100 amendments in all.
HDZ leader Jadranka Kosor told the press in the Parliament building that the amendments submitted by her party were worth slightly over 2.2 billion kuna, without increasing the budget deficit. She said that her party had agreed that its MPs would individually propose amendments relating to projects of importance to the area they represent.
Kosor said that the HDZ had requested 800 million kuna more for interest, about a billion kuna more for agriculture, about 80 million kuna for mine clearance projects, and more money for the construction of the Peljesac bridge.
HDSSB leader Dinko Buric said that his party had submitted 41 amendments to the proposed budget, worth about 1.9 billion kuna in all, adding that most of them were directed at increasing funds for agriculture and at other development projects in all five counties of the Slavonia and Baranja region.
Buric said it was unacceptable that the government reduced expenditure for agriculture by 40.06%. "That is absolutely unacceptable, not just for the agriculture of Slavonia and Baranja but for the agriculture of the entire country," he said.
