ZAGREB, May 28, 2020 - Minister of Culture Nina Obuljen Korzinek could not comment on Thursday on criminal charges related to alleged wrongdoing in the Rijeka - European Capital of Culture 2020 project, warning that the project was under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Rijeka city authorities.
"The rules are such that (the City of) Rijeka has absolutely autonomously created the programme. We in no way supervise or review costs," the minister told reporters when asked about the criminal charges filed against six members of a Rijeka-based company for favouring a bidder during public procurement procedures for the Rijeka - European Capital of Culture 2020 project.
"The government committed to securing certain funds at a defined pace and that project has its own model of supervision, spending and review which is European and independent," Obuljen Korzinek explained. The City of Rijeka is absolutely autonomous in creating and implementing the project programmes and the process is such that a complete review of the project will be conducted after it is completed, she added.
"Then we too will get the findings of those reviews. As far as I understand, this was launched in accordance with Croatian legislation and the people who advertised the tender and made the decisions should be asked about that. We did not participate in it," said Obuljen Korzinek. She added that the ministry had retained in its budget HRK 10 million that had been envisaged for the Rijeka project.
