From 1982 to 1993 he worked in his hometown of Zadar as a technologist and manager at the Maraska distilling company[2] (which produces the world-famous Maraschino liqueur).
Political career
In 1989 he joined the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and in 1993 his full-time political career started after he was elected to the Zadar City Council. In 1994 he became Zadar's deputy mayor, and from 1994 to 2003 he served as mayor of the city.[2]
From 1995 to 2003 he was also a member of the Croatian Parliament, serving as one of representatives from Zadar County. At the 7th HDZ Convention he was elected party's vice-president, beating Ivić Pašalić, and is currently a member of the party's presidency.
After HDZ won the Croatian parliamentary elections of 2003, Kalmeta was appointed to the newly created post of Minister of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development (which was created by merging three separate ministries) under Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. One of the chief accomplishments credited to his ministry was the completion of the A1 Highway linking the country's two largest cities, Zagreb and Split. In the next elections of 2007 HDZ won again and Kalmeta kept his post under Ivo Sanader's second term in office.
In February 2009, Kalmeta fired Davorin Kobak, the general manager of Croatian Railways, the national railway operator overseen by Kalmeta's Ministry, allegedly after a police wiretap operation uncovered a conspiracy to embezzle three million euros.[3] In June, USKOK arrested Kobak and two others and charged them with embezzlement.[4] In July and August, after the 2009 Rudine train derailment, Kalmeta intervened to replace several managers, and soon after, HŽ managers Ivan Medak, Drago Rogulj, Drago Ivanković were arrested for their role in causing the fatal Rudine accident, with several others.[5]
In November 2009, Kalmeta's long-time associate the State Secretary Zdravko Livaković unexpectedly resigned[6] and after that the Government fired much of the management of the public company Hrvatske autoceste,[7] the largest recipient of Kalmeta's Ministry budget money. Soon afterwards, three former managers of Hrvatske autoceste, Jurica Prskalo, Mario Lovrinčević and Goran Legac, were arrested for embezzling over 21 million kuna on a public tender, together with a chief engineer Željko Kandžija and owner of a private construction company Slaven Žužul.[8]
Kalmeta has consistently stated he never knew about those affairs and has refused to take any kind of responsibility.[9][10] President Stjepan Mesić was one of many who suggested Kalmeta needed to resign.[11] After another railway accident on 21 November near Rijeka, the railway workers union sent an open letter of complaint to the minister.[12]
On 11 December 2009 Kalmeta underwent an interpellation and survived a vote of no confidence.[13]
In December 2010, Kalmeta dismissed the last remaining member of the Board of Directors of Hrvatske autoceste, Josip Sapunar, after he was indicted for participating in a large-scale embezzlement scheme.[14] The latter subsequently testified in USKOK and accused the minister of complicity.[15] In June 2015 Kalmeta and 12 others were indicted by USKOK for corruption.[16]
