The Daily "Republika" Extinguished

AIM Zagreb, May 10, 2001

On Wednesday, May 9 - quite accidentally, the Victory Day - the Zagreb daily "Republika" (The Republic) was extinguished. It started coming out last December 4 with great ambitions. Its owner and first editor-in-chief, Ivo Pukanic, wanted to expand his media power - in which the fist element was the successful weekly "Nacional" (National) - with the ultimate aim of creating the second serious, private, Croatian media group. The first one was created over the past ten years by Ninoslav Pavic. Today, his "Europapress Holding" includes some fifteen, mostly successful papers of various profiles and frequency. Already in its first issue, "Republika" clearly demonstrated its editorial and marketing objectives. The front page of its first issue announced a major scandal which revealed how Nino Pavic's media empire was created with substantial financial, logistic and political assistance of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), i.e. its spiritus movens - Ivica Pasalic, Ph.D. "Republika" published facsimiles of the so called "partnership contracts" which showed that owners of the "Europapress Holding" was not only Nino Pavic, but also Miroslav Kutle (HDZ's tycoon, now in prison), Vinko Grubisic, as well as an unknown partner Hrvoje Franjic (which is in all likelihood Pasalic's pseudonym).

Several articles that followed this revelation disclosed the background of the whole deal, which showed that the entire "Europapress Holding" project enjoyed a strong backing of the HDZ, although at first glance Pavic looked like an independent publishers of independent publications.

The scandal seriously tarnished the already dubious reputation of Nino Pavic and his media empire and gave a powerful impetus to owners and editors of "Republika". Namely, this daily's first issue was sold in 200 thousand copies with negligible number of returned copies from agents. It seemed that a dramatic political-publishing turnabout was about to happen in Croatia. A day after "Republika" appeared on the stands, the investigation authorities started the investigation of Nino Pavic and his "partners", Ministers of Justice and Internal Affairs confirmed that shady deals had been in question and journalistic guild found itself in a difficult dilemma.

After less than two months, the events took a different turn. The investigation of Pavic's and his associates' deals made no progress as there was not enough evidence to indict them; the circulation of "Republika" fell by the day and finally everything was back where it started.

With less than 12 thousand copies sold daily and DM 600 thousand losses every month, "Repubilka" disappeared from the market (allegedly, only temporarily, but literally no one believes that it will ever come out again). Nino Pavic has remained the strongest Croatian media man (who holds enormous economic and financial power in his hands), while a medium whose political orientation positively contributed to the development of pluralism in the country has disappeared from the scene. Some 70 people (journalists and other staff) lost their jobs and will find it hard to get a similar one today in Croatia because the entire press market is in a serious, perhaps even, dramatic crisis. The more so as after the ruin of "Republika" Nino Pavic allegedly prohibited the employment of that paper's personnel in his house.

The political implications of this loss are not negligible. The editorial policy of "Republika" was explicitly critical towards the current authorities, while values promoted by this daily were precious for a country in which democracy is still a big question mark. Namely "Republika" insisted on European values, tolerance, criticism of chauvinistic and fascist manifestations in the Croatian society and did it much more openly and consistently than all Pavic's editions. Conditionally speaking, it was a left-liberal counter-balance to the right centre under whose influence are the majority of the major Croatian media today.

At its beginnings, "Republika" was a rather badly edited paper. While the idea on "Republika" was still in its infancy, some basic prerequisites for this paper to see the daylight were known. The editorial board believed that the price of 4 kunas (40 percent below the price of other dailies) would be sufficient bait for the impoverished readership. Unfortunately, the paper's contents were not attractive enough even at such a price. "Republika" was not a tabloid -which might have proven more successful - but a serious daily, which differed from its competition not only by price, but also by number of pages and political orientation. Contents-wise it was inferior than its key rivals

• "Vecernji list" (The Evening Paper) and "Jutarnji list" (The Morning Paper)- and judging by all appearances, that was the main reason for Pukanic's failure.

However, that was not the only reason that he did not succeed. Ivo Pukanic admits that "The Republic" came out without serious preparations, with a mechanism which had not been run-in and without a good marketable issue. However, he also adds: "lately we sold 12 thousand copies a day, which is much more than some papers supported by the state manage to sell. I will sue the state for supporting the market monopoly both to the Agency for the Protection of Market Competition and the court. We shall primarily take legal actions against the state for writing off the Vjesnik's (Gazette) debts for the second time and providing it with DM 20 million fresh money. I wonder whose is that money. Why wasn't I or "Vecernji list" or anyone else given some and why did the state write off the Vjesnik's debts, which will be financed by fresh money issue. We, the taxpayers, are the ones who will foot the bill. The same thing happened with "Slobodna Dalmacija" (The Free Dalmatia). Why are its debts also written off and not mine? My media are also important, but I get nothing. And secondly, we shall sue the state for illegally allowing prize games in dailies, which is against the law."

It is hard to deny that his criticism is founded, although Pukanic would have probably been less loud had "Republika" succeeded. However, he has every reason to be bitter because it is true that the political factors have contributed to the ruin of "Republika". Namely, before launching his daily Pukanic offered the Croatian authorities to buy "Vjesnik", but the Government flatly refused his offer. The explanation

• unofficial, but true one - was that the Government did not want to have to fear "Vjesnik" as it had to fear "Nacional". After that "Vjesnik" kept going downhill and the Government decided to save it with DM 20 million, which is an enormous sum for Croatian conditions today. What is most interesting, it is not certain whether "Vjesnik" will make it on the market even with such capital or will again soon need salvaging. The Government made a similar mistake with "Slobodna Dalmacija".

Instead of annulling Kutla's privatisation directed by the HDZ, on time, at the beginning of its term, up to last week the Government stoically allowed the paper, which it owns, to criticise it most harshly from rather fascist positions because it did not want to antagonising the Right. However, then it finally decided to replace the editorial and management teams of "Slobodna Dalmacija" it carried this out rather sloppily, just before the local elections so that the whole intervention acquired the proportions of a ruthless political liquidation of those unlike-minded, although it was nothing more than the "expropriation of the expropriator".

Thus, the Croatian media market fundamentally changed in less than a month. According to analysts, "Republika" is the sixth daily in a row that failed since 1991. Goran Strok's "Zapad" (The West), "Primorsko goranski dnevnik" (The Coastal Daily), "Dalmatinske novine" (The Dalmatian Paper) and "Slavonija danas" (The Slavonia Today) were inglorious predecessors of the failed "Republika. After all that has happened, Ivo Pukanic will return to his parent weekly "Nacional". According to him, he has found a strategic partner from Austria who will cover the incurred losses with whom "Nacional" could start three new, for the time being, unknown projects in the fall. Pukanic claims that all journalists will be paid every penny he owes them. Those who do not trust such promises have already taken some of the equipment from the editorial offices. Nino Pavic - a man who is certainly gloating over his competitor's ruin - announced a soon start of his own daily, whose profile is still a mystery.

Boris Raseta

(AIM)