Gabrijela Žalac

Gabrijela Žalac
Žalac in 2018
Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds
In office
19 October 2016 – 17 July 2019
Prime MinisterAndrej Plenković
Preceded byTomislav Tolušić
Succeeded byMarko Pavić
Personal details
Born (1979-02-04) 4 February 1979 (age 45)
Vinkovci, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Political partyCroatian Democratic Union
Alma materUniversity of Osijek

Gabrijela Žalac (born 4 February 1979) is a Croatian politician. She served as Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds from 2016 to 2019.

Early life and education

Žalac was born on 4 February 1979 in Vinkovci. She graduated in economics at the University of Osijek where she also completed postgraduate studies in management at the same university.[1]

Career

For more than ten years, Žalac worked on the development and implementation of projects, including using European funds. She served as director of the department of foreign and European affairs of the Vukovar-Srijem County administration and president of the regional development agency "Hrast".[2] In October 2016, on the recommendation of the Croatian Democratic Union, she was appointed Minister of Regional Development and Management of European Funds in the government of Andrej Plenković.[3] She held this position until July 2019.

Controversy

In 2019, Žalac hit a nine-year-old child in Vinkovci while driving with an invalid license. She was fined of 500 kuna. The child was seriously injured in her legs.[4]

In 2021, Žalac was arrested by the European Attorney General's Office for corruption and embezzling funds[5][6] and was investigated in 2023.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ "Tko je Gabrijela Žalac - nova ministrica regionalnoga razvoja i fondova EU". Dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). 18 October 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Tko je Gabrijela Žalac - kandidatkinja za ministricu regionalnog razvoja i fondova Europske unije?". narod.hr (in Croatian). 19 October 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Ovo su ljudi koji će biti u Vladi Andreja Plenkovića". express.24sata.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  4. ^ Amidžić, Ivona. "Ministrica koja je udarila dijete vozilom upravljala bez vozačke dozvole?! - NacionalniPortal.hr - najnovije vijesti iz Hrvatske" (in Croatian). Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Croatia arrests ex-minister over alleged EU funds fraud". Times of Malta. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  6. ^ Matea Grgurinovic (11 November 2021). "Croatia Former EU Funds Minister Arrested for Corruption". Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  7. ^ Katarina KNEŽEVIĆ METELKO (8 December 2023). "Europski tužitelji pokrenuli novu istragu protiv Gabrijele Žalac: trošila je javni novac po restoranima" (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  8. ^ "EPPO pokrenuo istragu protiv Žalac zbog privatnog čašćenja javnim novcem" (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 April 2024.