Božidar Kalmeta

Božidar Kalmeta (born in Zadar, January 15 1958) is a croatian politician with the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the current Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure in the Croatian Government (Minister of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development from 2003-2008).

He graduated with a degree in agronomy from the University of Zagreb. He work at the company "Maraska" in Zadar where he had a management position. From 1993, he was the deputy mayor of Zadar while from 1994 to 2003 he was the city's mayor. From 1995 to 2003 he was also a member of the Croatian Parliament where he represented Zadar County. At the VII. General Council of HDZ, he became the party's vicepresident, winning over Ivić Pašalić. He is currently a member of the party's presidency.

At the Croatian parliamentary elections of 2003, HDZ won nine seats from the election riding whose list Kalmeta represented. After these elections, Kalmeta received the ministerial position he now holds which was previously made of three separate ministries. One of the chief accomplishments of the ministry under Kalmeta was the finishing of the Zagreb-Split Highway.

In June 2007, Kalmeta's long time official driver, one Danijel Miočić from Zadar, was indicted for racketeering. He and three others were arrested when they took 100,000 EUR worth of bribe from a Cetingrad businessman, and the money was meant to secure work for the said person's company in public tenders run by the Ministry. Kalmeta stated that he had no knowledge of these acts, nor how his driver could have had any sway on the tenders.

Kalmeta is married with three children. He speaks English and Italian.

External links

* [http://www.vlada.hr/default.asp?gl=200312230000017 Biography at www.vlada.hr]