Nikica Valentić

Nikica Valentić (pronounced [nîkit͡sa ʋǎleːntit͡ɕ]; 24 November 1950 – 3 May 2023) was a Croatian entrepreneur, lawyer, and politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia 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.

Nikica Valentić
Valentić in 2011
Prime Minister of Croatia
In office 3 April 1993 – 7 November 1995
President	Franjo Tuđman
Preceded by	Hrvoje Šarinić
Succeeded by	Zlatko Mateša
Personal details
Born	(1950-11-24)24 November 1950 Gospić, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia
Died	3 May 2023(2023-05-03) (aged 72) Zagreb, Croatia[citation needed]
Political party	Croatian Democratic Union
Spouse	Antoneta Valentić
Children	Ivan Marija
Alma mater	University of Zagreb
Occupation	Entrepreneur lawyer politician

A native of Gospić, Valentić graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Law.^[1] Before being involved in politics, he was a high-ranking official of INA, the Croatian oil company.^{[citation needed]}

On 3 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.^[2]

A few months after taking office his cabinet de-valued the Croatian currency, the Croatian dinar, halting inflation 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.^[3]

In 1995, during his term in office, the Croatian military and police conducted Operation Storm which would ultimately lead to the end of the war in Croatia and neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina. After his term expired, he served as a member of the Croatian Parliament until 2003.^[1][4]

Valentić died on 3 May 2023, at the age of 72.^[5]

See also

• Cabinet of Nikica Valentić

References

1. Nikica Valentić Archived 29 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Deputies of the 5th Assembly of the Croatian Parliament
2. "Peta vlada" (in Croatian). Croatian Information-Documentation Referral Agency. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
3. "May 1994 to January 2023 - An Ode to the Croatian Kuna". Archived from the original on 28 March 2023.
4. Nikica Valentić: Graditelj stanova u recesijska vremena, Jutarnji list; accessed 20 July 2015.(in Croatian)
5. "Jutarnji list - Umro je Nikica Valentić". www.jutarnji.hr. 3 May 2023.