Nikica Valentić (; born 24 November 1950) is a Croatian entrepreneur, lawyer and politician who served as

Prime Minister of Croatia , type = Head of Government , member_of = , reports_to = Croatian Parliament , appointer = Croatian Parliament , nominator = President of Croatia , termlength = At the pleasure of the parliamentary majority. Parliamentary elections must be h ...

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 born after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A native of

Gospić Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje). Gospić is the ...

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

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sab ...

Before being involved in politics, he was a high-ranking official of INA, the Croatian oil company. On 4 April 1993, as a member of the Croatian Democratic Union, he was appointed by the President Franjo Tuđman 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

Croatian dinar The dinar was the currency of Croatia between 23 December 1991 and 30 May 1994. The ISO 4217 code was . History The Croatian dinar replaced the 1990 version of the Yugoslav dinar at par. It was a transitional currency introduced following Croat ...

, stopping the

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

and bringing some sort of economic stability to Croatia for the first time after the start of war. In June 1994 the Croatian dinar was replaced with the

kuna Kuna may refer to: Places * Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States ** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho * Kuna Peak, a mountain in California * , a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia * , a village in the Konavle municipality, Croatia ...

. In 1995, during his term in office, the Croatian military and police conducted

Operation Storm }) 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 for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state Re ...

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

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

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

until 2003.Nikica Valentić: Graditelj stanova u recesijska vremena
Jutarnji list; accessed 20 July 2015.

References

Prime Ministers of Croatia Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Croatian Democratic Union politicians Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni People from Gospić Living people 1950 births Order of Ante Starčević recipients {{Croatia-politician-stub

See also

References