By Igor Ilic
ZAGREB (Reuters) - Croatia's president on Wednesday designated pharmaceutical executive Tihomir Oreskovic to become prime minister, nominating a technocrat put forward by conservatives and a reformist party after weeks of talks following an inconclusive Nov. 8 election.
"He convinced me that he has support of 78 parliamentary deputies," President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said. Parliament has 151 seats.
Oreskovic, 49, a pharmaceutical expert working as a senior manager in Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals, now has 30 days to win approval for his cabinet in the parliament.
"I'll invest all my knowledge and energy so that we can start solving the huge number of problems that we have," Oreskovic said after his nomination.
The conservative HDZ and the reformist "Most" (Croatian for "bridge") party struck a deal on Wednesday after six weeks of talks on potential coalitions, which also included the outgoing government's Social Democrats..
Most insisted on a technocrat prime minister, saying this would bolster the reformist credentials of the new cabinet as one of the weakest European Union economies struggles to boost shaky growth and reduce severe fiscal imbalances.
(Reporting by Igor Ilic; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
