ZAGREB, Sept 23, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic should have known about the investigation against suspected JANAF CEO Dragan Kovacevic as he is the "keeper of state secrets," adding that the premier should not pretend to be naive.
"I sincerely wanted to help him. I am not nervous. I am worried because this is a terribly serious scandal and someone has put him in a serious situation because he obviously was not informed, because if he was there is no way he would have appointed Kovacevic for another term," Milanovic told reporters on the margins of a business conference.
Milanovic's comment, is the latest in the trade of arguments between him and Plenkovic regarding the influence peddling and the public tender rigging probe. Ten suspects have been arrested in the scandal and Janaf CEO Dragan Kovacevic is the main suspect along with businessman Kreso Petek under suspicion of corruption in closing deals with Petek's company.
Earlier Milanovic alleged that Plenkovic along with Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic knew about the investigation against Kovacevic which Plenkovic denied retorting that Milanovic was nervous.
MIlanovis said that he is not nervous but "angry" because things like this should not be happening in a democracy. Milanovic said that Plenkovic has now been put in a "situation by not being in the know, ignorance or by one of his associates."
Milanovic criticised the work of the DORH state prosecutor's office because the investigation was not suspended when, based on details from the investigation, Petek brought HRK 1.96 million in kickbacks to Kovacevic's private "club."
Milanovic added that he did not see anything contentious in the fact that some ministers visited Kovacevic's "club" however what is contentious is that some judges visited the club too.
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