ZAGREB, June 29, 2020 - Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Coric said on Monday that the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party had declined donations from companies that had received state aid for job retention, calling on the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) to do the same given that it had already received such donations.
"The HDZ has so far received about HRK 1.75 million (€233,000) in donations, which is considerably more than our political opponents. This itself speaks of the HDZ's popularity and the inclination to donate funds," Coric, a member of the HDZ's main committee, said in response to questions from the press.
He said that the HDZ would insist on a transparent presentation of campaign costs, adding that even before the election campaign the party had decided to "negatively respond" to certain donations.
"All donations coming from legal entities which in recent months received aid as part of the economic recovery measures for job retention are considered unacceptable by the HDZ. We call on all other parties to follow suit because we are aware of the fact that some political groups in Croatia have received donations from legal entities that benefited from the economic recovery measures. We don't think that's fair," Coric said.
He said that the HDZ had been offered donations from several such businesses but that the party had paid the money into the state budget. He did not reveal details, saying only that those were several smaller legal entities with small donations.
"As far as we know, the SDP has received such donations. We call on them to be responsible in this election time and to refer such donations to the budget," Coric said.
