Nikica Valentić (; 24 November 1950 – 3 May 2023) was a Croatian entrepreneur, lawyer, and politician who served as

Prime Minister of Croatia The prime minister of Croatia, officially the president of the government of the Republic of Croatia (), is Croatia's head of government, and is ''de facto'' the most powerful and influential state officeholder in the Croatian system of governme ...

from 1993 to 1995. He is to date the youngest person to have served in that capacity, being 42 years old when taking office, and is also the first Croatian prime minister to have been born after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. A native of

Gospić Gospić () is a town in Lika, Croatia. It is the seat of the Lika-Senj County. Geography Gospić is located in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika. It is the administrative center of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located n ...

, Valentić graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Law.Nikica Valentić
, Deputies of the 5th Assembly of the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

Before being involved in politics, he was a high-ranking official of INA, the Croatian oil company. On 3 April 1993, as a member of the

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

, he was appointed by the President

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...

to the post of Prime Minister. He served in that position until 4 November 1995. A few months after taking office his cabinet de-valued the Croatian currency, the

Croatian dinar The dinar was the currency of Croatia between 1991 and 1994. The ISO 4217 code was . History The Croatian dinar replaced the 1990 version of the Yugoslav dinar at par on 23 December 1991. It was a transitional currency introduced following Cro ...

, halting

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

and bringing some sort of economic stability to Croatia for the first time after the start of the war. In June 1994 the Croatian dinar was replaced with the kuna. In 1995, during his term in office, the Croatian military and police conducted

Operation Storm Operation Storm ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Operacija Oluja, separator=" / ", Операција Олуја) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory f ...

which would ultimately lead to the end of the war in Croatia and neighbouring

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. After his term expired, he served as a member of the

until 2003. Valentić died on 3 May 2023, at the age of 72.

References

1950 births 2023 deaths Prime ministers of Croatia Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Croatian Democratic Union politicians Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni People from Gospić Order of Ante Starčević recipients Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery {{Croatia-politician-stub

See also

References