The Panama Papers contain about 40 persons, 20 entities and 27 addresses connected with Croatia.
The Ministry of Finance announced today that it was taking all legal measures in order to determine possible illegal actions in the case of the Panama Papers. It also announced that, as one of important measures to combat tax evasion, it would establish the Register of Beneficial Owners, reports Večernji List on May 10, 2016.
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published on Monday the entire database of information about the so-called Panama Papers, which belonged to Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca and are associated with more than 200,000 offshore accounts in more than 20 tax havens around the world. In the published documents, there are about forty persons, 20 entities and 27 addresses associated with Croatia.
Reference is made to 14 addresses in Zagreb, two in Kaštel Lukšić and one each in Rijeka, Split, Lovran, Matulji, Sv. Filip i Jakov, Karlovac, Pula, Sukošan and Zadar.
The Ministry of Finance said that "the relevant department of the Ministry shall take all legal measures and actions in order to investigate possible illegal actions of some Croatian companies and citizens in the Panama Papers case”. It added that Croatian services "have requested certain information from related foreign services, which could help in identifying possible illegal conduct by domestic legal and natural persons referred to in this case".
The Finance Ministry pointed out that the speed and scope of obtaining specific information and data from abroad does not depend on Croatian services, but on the legislation in other countries and added that, in accordance with Croatian law and international standards, it is not possible to present to the public which measures and actions had been taken.
“One of the important measures that the Ministry of Finance and the government will take with a view to combating tax evasion and fraud will be the establishment of the Register of Beneficial Owners", concluded the statement issued by the Finance Ministry.
