Even if your company has no employees and no revenues, that does not mean that you cannot get the concession for Croatia’s most famous beach.
The Assembly of Split-Dalmatia County yesterday decided that the concession for one of the most beautiful beaches on the Adriatic, the Zlatni Rat beach on the island of Brač, will be awarded to the company Sport B from Zagreb, which allegedly submitted the best offer at the public tender. The decision was made with 24 votes in favour, nine votes against and six undecided, reports Večernji List on April 19, 2017.
Interestingly, according to the most recent available data, the company has no employees and recorded a loss of 600 kuna. Founder of the company is Davor Matijević, owner of a nightclub in Zagreb.
Municipal company Grabov Rat, owned by the municipality, was eliminated in the previous phase of the competition. It has managed the beach for the last 12 years, but Split-Dalmatia County determined that it had not submitted a valid bid. “Our company is stable and we have submitted all the necessary documentation. Someone has clearly favoured the company with no employees, which means they favoured tycoons. This is obviously a company that will come at Zlatni Rat on 1 April, take the money, and leave on 1 November. We have invested funds in Bol and Zlatni Rat and we have certainly contributed to Zlatni Rat becoming one of our finest beaches,” said Mayor of Municipality of Bol Tihomir Marinković.
Tensions were running high during the meeting of the County Assembly. Protesters from the island of Brač gathered in front of the county building, led by the municipal mayor. They were joined by MOST’s candidate for county prefect Miro Bulj, who accused current Prefect Zlatko Ževrnja for “running away from people and the media.” SDP's candidate for prefect Arsen Bauk said during the debate that “this is a political decision, for Bol a more important decision than Lex Agrokor for that company.”
Marinković added that protests against the decision would certainly continue, with further civil disobedience and court filings. “After the appeal process is concluded, we will launch court proceedings. I think we have a good argument to win.”
The municipal company Grabov Rat will manage the beach this summer, while Sport B should become the concessionaire in 2018.
It is interesting that Grabov Rat’s offer was found to be incomplete because, according to the Split-Dalmatia County, it had not supplied adequate certificate that the company was not in bankruptcy or undergoing bankruptcy proceedings and that it was not in the process of liquidation. However, company’s director Mirko Perić says that is not correct.
“We have provided all the required certificates. On the other hand, the concession has been awarded to a company that has no employees and has revenues of 1,000 kuna. You cannot buy chairs with that kind of money. My offer was realistic, I do not know exactly what they can offer,” said Perić. “We will certainly launch court proceedings.”
According to media reports, the owner of the new concessionaire has good political connections, which perhaps explains quite a lot.
