The announcement by the new Croatian Prime Minister, Tihomir Oreskovic, on the resolute intention of the new government to sell co-ownership shares in companies that are in its portfolio has revived the story of the sale of the group Hotel in Dubrovnik.

The Restructuring and Sale Centre, or CERP, is the government organisation which manages the equity portfolio and arranges sales of shares in state owned companies. Such stocks include the Hotel Maestral group in which the government holds 68.26 percent of the shares at a value of 103.14 million Kuna. Hotel Maestral operates five hotels in the Lapad Bay suburb of Dubrovnik, prime waterfront locations for possible investors.

According to CERP, up to the 9th of November 2015, when the deadline for submitting letters of intent for the purchase of the Hotel Maestral group ended they had received 15 non-binding bids from domestic and foreign investors to purchase shares. However the state has been dragging its heels as they have still yet to decide on the starting price as well as the terms and conditions of the procedure for binding bids to be invited. However after the Prime Minister’s announcement it is expected that this will all be completed soon and that bidding bids will be invited in the near future. This could mean that the Dubrovnik based hotel chain could have new owners before the start of the tourist season.