Branko Bačić (born 7 June 1959) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n politician and graduate engineer in

geodesy Geodesy or geodetics is the science of measuring and representing the Figure of the Earth, geometry, Gravity of Earth, gravity, and Earth's rotation, spatial orientation of the Earth in Relative change, temporally varying Three-dimensional spac ...

. He is currently

Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia The deputy prime minister of Croatia (officially the Vice President of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, ) is the official deputy of the Prime Minister of Croatia. Article 109 of the Constitution of Croatia states that the cabinet is t ...

, Minister of Construction, Spatial Planning and State Property, and vice-president 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 has also been president of the Club of Representatives of the Croatian Democratic Union in 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. ...

, Minister of Environmental Protection, Spatial Planning and Construction, as well as State Secretary in the Ministry of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development. At the same time, he was elected mayor of the municipality of Blato three times.

Early life

Bačić was born in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

on 7 June 1959. He graduated from the Faculty of Geodesy of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

in 1982. From 1982 to 1993, he worked in the Directorate for Cadastre and Geodetic Affairs and was its director. As a Croatian veteran, he participated in the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

in 1991 and 1992 on the Southern Front. From 1993 to 2004, he was elected mayor of the municipality of Blato on the island of

Korčula Korčula () is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk. The populat ...

three times.

Political career

In the 2003 parliamentary elections, Bačić was elected as a member of the

. Shortly thereafter, on 5 January 2004, he was appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development, as a result of which his mandate as a member of the Croatian Parliament was put on hold, and his mandate as mayor of Blato municipality also ended. As state secretary, he held the position of head of the Expert Working Group at the Ministry of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development for negotiations with the Expert Working Group of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the purpose of solving the problem of a harmless passage under the future

Pelješac Bridge The Pelješac Bridge (, ) is a cable-stayed bridge in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Croatia. The bridge provides a fixed link from the southeastern Croatian semi-exclave to the rest of the country while bypassing Bosnia and Herzegovina's short coast ...

, and thus determining the essential elements of the bridge. He signed the agreement with

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 ...

on 7 December 2006, in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. In that mandate, together with his colleagues, he initiated and implemented numerous projects and infrastructure investments on the Croatian coast, and he mostly advocated for a better quality of life for the islanders. During his term as secretary of state, vignettes for island vehicles, night lines to the larger islands, the mark of quality and authenticity for Croatian island products, subsidization of island employers, and numerous other transport, communal and social infrastructure projects were introduced. In the 2007 parliamentary elections, Bačić was elected as a member of the Croatian Parliament. On 12 January 2008, he was again appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure. In 2010, he briefly returned to the Croatian Parliament, and shortly after the reconstruction of the

Croatian Government The Government of Croatia (), formally the Government of the Republic of Croatia (), commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government (), is the main executive branch of government in Croatia. It is led by the president of the Government (), infor ...

, he was appointed Minister of Environment Protection, Spatial Planning and Construction. During his tenure as minister, in 2011 he proposed, and the Croatian Parliament adopted, the Law on Subsidization and State Guarantee of Housing Loans, which law is still the most attractive model of buying apartments for young people (so-called 'Bačić apartments'). At the same time and in that mandate, he initiated and created, and the Croatian Parliament adopted, the Law on Dealing with Illegally Constructed Buildings, which, in addition to the conditions prescribed by law, enabled the legalization of illegal buildings built until 21 June 2011. From 2008 to 2011, he held the position of president of the International Sava River Basin Commission. The goal of establishing the

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

Commission is the sustainable management of the waters of the basin, as well as the rehabilitation of the waterway to

Sisak Sisak (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa, Sava and Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usually considered to be where the Posavina (Sava basin ...

. In the 2011 parliamentary elections, Bačić was re-elected as a member of the Croatian Parliament as the holder of the candidate list of the

in electoral district X. In that mandate, he held the position of chairman of the Committee for Environmental Protection in the Croatian Parliament. In the 2015 parliamentary elections, Bačić was elected as a member of the Croatian Parliament for the fourth time, and in that short term he held the position of vice president of the Committee for Spatial Planning and Construction. In the extraordinary 2016 parliamentary elections, Bačić was elected as a member of the Croatian Parliament for the fifth time. After the constitution of the parliament, he was elected president of the Club of HDZ representatives in the Croatian Parliament. In the 2020 parliamentary elections, Bačić was elected as a member of the Croatian Parliament for the sixth time. After the constitution of the parliament, he was re-elected as the president of the Club of HDZ representatives. On 17 January 2023, Bačić was elected

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and Minister of Construction, Spatial Planning and State Property. Since 2005, Bačić has been elected five times as a councillor in the County Assembly of

Dubrovnik-Neretva County The Dubrovnik-Neretva County (; , ) is the southernmost county of Croatia. The county seat is Dubrovnik and other large towns are Korčula, Metković, Opuzen and Ploče. The Municipality of Neum, which belongs to neighbouring Bosnia and Herz ...

, and in 2009 and 2013 he was the holder of the candidate list of the Croatian Democratic Union for the county assembly. Due to his obligations to the government and parliament, he put his council mandates in the county assembly on hold. Bačić has been a member of the Croatian Democratic Union since 1990. On three occasions, he was elected president of the County Board of the Croatian Democratic Union of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Since 2008, he has been a member of the presidency of the Croatian Democratic Union, and he held the position of General Secretary of the Croatian Democratic Union from 2009 to 2012. In the internal party elections, held on 15 March 2020, according to the principle of one member - one vote, Bačić was elected vice president of the Croatian Democratic Union.

Personal life

Bačić is married to Željka Bačić and is the father of two daughters, Marica and Ana. He actively speaks English. He is the founder of the Friends' Society "Wine in the Tradition of Living".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacic, Branko 1959 births Living people Deputy prime ministers of Croatia Government ministers of Croatia University of Zagreb alumni Croatian Democratic Union politicians Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Mayors of places in Croatia