Croatian Environment Minister monitoring developments in the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
If the allegations against Volkswagen in the so-called "eco scandal" are proven to be true, Croatian Minister of Environment and Nature Protection Mihael Zmajlović will seek compensation from Volkswagen. He has already established a special commission of inquiry with three key tasks – fact-finding, determining the financial implications and proposing legal measures, reports Novi List on October 8, 2015.
In a statement, Zmajlović stressed that in the last three and a half years his Ministry has made great effort to make Croatia greener and protect Croatian nature, and therefore will not allow anyone to destroy it. "I will not allow anyone, even a large powerful company, to fraudulently make us accomplices in poisoning our planet and Croatia. The Volkswagen affair is not only a deception of customers, but also a scam against all Croatian citizens", said Zmajlović.
The first available data show that cars with programs for falsifying data emit up to 40 times more harmful gases than is allowed, which represents a risk to public health. "The fact is that vehicles with questionable software pollute the environment more than we think and that is why I want to know exactly how many such vehicles are on our roads. I want to be sure that such fraud is stopped and I want us to be compensated for the damages in order to eliminate the possibility that the same thing could again happen in the future", said Zmajlović.
To this end, he has formed a special investigative commission that will collect, consolidate and verify all information, determine the facts and make calculations of who has been financially damaged. The commission will calculate whether and how much was the state budget damaged and will propose options for compensation. Buyers will be exempt "because they were buying the vehicles in good faith".
The commission must also propose legal options which are available to the Ministry for compensation if the suspicions are confirmed. "I will not let people suffer because of greedy corporations. Croatian citizens and buyers of suspect cars are not guilty because they were deceived and betrayed by the manufacturer. Financial damages should be covered by the party which cheated, and not by the citizens who have paid dearly for their cars", emphasized Zmajlović.
German automotive giant Volkswagen admitted a few weeks ago that 11 million of its diesel cars around the world have been equipped with devices which allow cheating on eco-tests. The company has lost a third of its market value and is facing numerous investigations.
