ZAGREB, July 13, 2020 - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic on Monday denied media allegations that the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) had received donations from companies that were granted government subsidies during the coronavirus epidemic.
"That information is not true. The donations concerned were paid no later than March 12 before any lockdown measures were introduced or any government subsidies were issued to bail out the economy. We did not receive any donations after March 12, or we received some but that money of about HRK 70,000 was paid back to the state budget," Jandrokovic said ahead of a meeting of the HDZ presidency.
He added that "those donations were paid before the COVID situation even emerged," adding that at that time no one could have to know what was to happen later.
HDZ's presidency and national council on Monday appointed Krunoslav Katicic as the party's new secretary-general, replacing Jandrokovic who will be reappointed parliament speaker based on an earlier agreement in the party.
Jandrokovic said: "Now, I will dedicate myself 100 percent to the position of parliament speaker," expressing satisfaction with the opportunity to be in that position for a second term.
"It was demanding and challenging to conduct both the duties of parliament speaker and secretary-general of HDZ. I look proudly at the past four years and wish my successor good luck," said Jandrokovic.
New parliament to be inaugurated on 22 July
He announced that the new parliament should be convened on July 22 if there are no complaints related to the July 5 parliamentary election in the town of Rasa which was repeated on Sunday. Parliament is expected to sit in Parliament House taking account of epidemiological measures.
