ZAGREB, 15 June, 2021 - The appointment of new members of the management and supervisory boards of the Zagreb Holding without a public call for the selection of applicants did not constitute a breach of the pre-election promise, the new Mayor of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević, said on Tuesday.

The multi-utility conglomerate Zagreb Holding's assembly on Monday relieved the supervisory and management boards of their duties, appointing Suzana Brenko Supervisory Board chair and Ratko Bajakić and Damir Topić its members. The provisional Zagreb Holding (ZGH) Management Board was appointed as well, with two new members, Nikola Vuković as Management Board chair and Ante Samodol as a member.

Tomašević said that the situation inherited from the previous local government forced them to react quickly and the direct appointment was the most responsible solution.

Commenting on ZGH's loss of HRK 305 million, Tomašević said that the current city administration had two options: to keep the incumbent management that obviously failed to put the situation under control or to dismiss them and leave the Holding without management several months for the duration of the public tender. 

Tomašević said that this was why he resorted to the direct appointment although in the run-up to the elections he and his party (We Can) promised the appointment of executives and management members of the city-owned companies only through public calls.

At a meeting held with Mayor Tomašević last Friday, the former ZGH management reported on the conglomerate's financial situation and losses incurred in 2020. An audited and consolidated report for 2020 shows that ZGH has for the first time in the last seven years incurred a loss of HRK 305 million, the mayor's office said on Monday.

Today, the mayor elaborated that the minimum number of members of the management and supervisory boards of ZGH were directly appointed and promised the advertisement of public calls for the remaining three members in the management board and the remaining members of the supervisory board.

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ZAGREB, 29 January, 2021 - The Conflict of Interest Commission on Friday launched proceedings against Tourism and Sport Minister Nikolina Brnjac for her failure to declare a speed boat her husband owns in her Declaration of Assets in a timely fashion.

The complaint notes that Brnjac and her husband obtained a valuable asset without a loan and failed to declare the Jeanneau Leader 805 speed boat registered in her husband's name on her Declaration of Assets.

The applicant of the complaint claimed that Brnjac's husband only declared a small vessel while failing to declare the new vessel purchased in 2018 that is valued at €85,000.

In an explanation to the commission Minister Brnjac presented a sales contract noting that she had omitted to note that the proceeds from selling the smaller vessel went to purchase the new boat.

The commission confirmed that in 2019 Brnjac reported the new vessel in her Declaration of Assets, which meant her declaration had not been adjusted to the real state of affairs for a year and a half.

Brnjac added that she did not intentionally fail to declare the vessel as she did not consider it necessary to declare the new vessel as its value was the same as the vessel sold.

ZAGREB, March 9, 2020 - The Zagreb Administrative Court has admitted a lawsuit by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and quashed a decision by the Conflict of Interest Commission under which in the case of appointment of his close friend Igor Pokaz as Ambassador to the UK, Plenković had breached principles of conscientious and transparent conduct.

The Administrative Court's ruling quashes the Commission's decision and suspends the proceedings in the case and the Conflict of Interest Commission is instructed to compensate the plaintiff for litigation costs in the amount of HRK 3,125.

The Conflict of Interest Commission, however, has said that it will appeal against the Administrative Court's ruling with the High Administrative Court as well as that it will continue with the practice of determining violation of principles of conduct by office-holders.

The Commission referred to the decision by the High Administrative Court of 12 September 2019 in a case where the plaintiff was Jasmin Bajić and which confirmed that practice. It said that the ruling of the High Administrative Court in question was adopted following the Administrative Court's decision of 2 July 2019 in a case concerning former HDZ leader Tomislav Karamarko, to which the Zagreb Administrative Court referred in its first-instance ruling.

At a session held on 11 October 2019, the Conflict of Interest Commission decided that Plenkovic had breached the principle of conscientious and transparent conduct by failing to declare that Pokaz was his close friend when proposing him for the position of ambassador.

In a lawsuit filed with the Administrative Court the prime minister contested the Commission's authority to make declaratory decisions whereby it determines violation of principles of conduct because he believes that the relevant legal regulation exclusively defines general principles of conduct for office-holders and that the relevant law does not envisage the possibility of imposing sanctions over violation of those principles.

The prime minister has also sued the Conflict of Interest Commission over its decision in a case related to a trip of a senior government delegation to Helsinki, where they attended the annual assembly of the European People's Party. A hearing in that case has been set for March 19.

More news about conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 28, 2020 - Conflict of Interest Commission chair Nataša Novaković said on Friday the Commission was surprised by the speed and coordination of the judges working on the Pokaz and Helsinki cases over which Prime Minister Andrej Plenković filed two suits against the Commission.

Novakovic told reporters every official had the right to take legal action against a decision by the Commission. She was commenting on the two suits Plenković filed at the Administrative Court against decisions in which the Conflict of Interest Commission found that he violated the principle of conscientious and transparent conduct.

Novakovic said she did not consider the suits as pressure on the Commission but as an option for every plaintiff who was dissatisfied with a decision by the Commission. She recommended doing so in court and not by publicly attacking the Commission

Novakovic said she would insist that a hearing be held. The prime minister, according to the media, asked that a judgment be handed down in writing.

She said a hearing was scheduled for Thursday and the Commission received a summons three days ago, so it requested that the hearing be postponed. The same day the Administrative Court informed the Commission there would be no hearing as the plaintiff had opted against it, she said, adding that she hoped a hearing would be held before a judgment was delivered because the Commission had the same rights as the plaintiff.

The Friday issue of Jutarnji List daily says the purpose of one of the lawsuits is to contest the Commission's decision concerning the appointment of Plenković's close friend Igor Pokaz as ambassador to the United Kingdom.

The other lawsuit is aimed at contesting the Commission's decision in a case related to a trip of a senior government delegation to Helsinki, where they attended the annual assembly of the European People's Party.

More news about conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.

January 30th, 2020 - Many things can be said about Croatian politicians, but that they don't own enough real estate is not one of those things, as yet another property scandal proves.

After the Croatian media and public realised the problems yet another one of Plenković's ministers had with his property and the incorrectly filled declaration of property yesterday (it was Krstičević), it took less than a day for Index.hr to publish another similar story.

This time it regarded Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković, who is reported not to have included over 300 square metres of a backyard into his declaration. Additionally, the backyard is located next to an illegally built house, owned by the minister's wife.

The size of the house from the land registry differs than the size listed in the declaration, and the declaration completely forgets to mention the backyard. The minister admitted that the house was built over 30 years ago without any permits, and has still not been legalised. There was a very long period when it was possible to legalise buildings in Croatia without significant fines, and minister Bošnjaković claims that his wife has taken part in that process, but that it has not been completed for that house. The house was supposedly a gift to her from her parents. 

The house in question in Biograd is just one of Bošnjaković's 10 properties listed in his declaration, so when someone needs to list that many properties in the declaration, it's quite obvious that mistakes are to be expected. Some journalists, members of the public and even members of Parliament have been joking that the officials might need some special training to fill out their declarations, as they're obviously unable to do it properly themselves without making grave errors, which end up costing them their ministerial positions.

Who knows which minister will cause another property scandal and have his properties dissected by the Croatian media and the public tomorrow?

ZAGREB, January 30, 2020 - A spokeswoman for the Conflict of Interest Commission confirmed on Thursday that Defence Minister Damir Krstičević had completed an on-line Declaration of Assets on Wednesday, but later withdrew it in order to amend it.

"The information that he submitted an on-line Declaration of Assets yesterday is true. The procedure is such that an official completes an on-line declaration and then submits a signed hard copy to the Commission and only then it is published," spokeswoman Martina Jurišić told Hina.

However, she added, after he completed the declaration on Wednesday, Krstičević found that there was something he still needed to amend and the Commission is now waiting for a new declaration.

The Index.hr news website reported on Wednesday that the Defence Minister had declared a lower value for a house near Šibenik compared to how much he had paid for it. The declaration of assets noted that the house owned by his wife was assessed at €80,000, yet the sales contract indicated a price of €160,000.

Krstičević also did not declare the exact size of the house because he declared that the holiday house measures 120 square metres in area when in fact, according to the Land Titles Registry, it measures 302 square metres.

More news about conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 22, 2020 - The Conflict of Interest Commission will inspect the information registered on the Declaration of Assets submitted by Health Minister Milan Kujundžić following media reports about his purchase of a house in Zagreb and its value.

"The Commission will launch a procedure to check the information on Minister Kujundžić's declaration of assets and compare that with information that it will request from the authorised institutions - Tax Administration, Land Titles Department and so on," a spokeswoman for the commission, Martina Jurišić told Hina.

If any discrepancy is identified, the commission will request the official to submit his explanation and after that the commission will decide whether there are any grounds to launch proceedings, Jurišić added.

The Telegram news portal reported that Kujundžić registered a lower value for the house he is currently living in than is realistic.

The minister claims that the house is valued at 900,000 kuna even though a loan agreement that the Kujundžić's signed with the PBZ bank in 2010 estimated the value of the house at 2.37 million kuna and later when the loan was rescheduled, the property was appraised at 1.68 million kuna.

Kujundžić did not wish to comment on the Telegram article but said that everything was clear and transparent regarding his house and that he would inform the commission of everything when he is requested to do so.

"I'm obliged by law to answer to the commission, however, there is nothing to hide here, everything is transparent and clear. It is easy to check and see how much my wife and I earned in the past five years, just as it can be seen in my account that my savings increased by 7,000 kuna to 8,000 kuna each month," Kujundžić told Hina.

Telegram on Tuesday reported that Kujundžić's family bought another house in Zagreb late last year, which is owned by his wife Tatjana and that she paid 1.46 million kuna for the property located in the Zagreb suburb of Maksimir. The article however notes that it is not clear from Kujundžić's declaration of assets where the money to purchase that real estate came from.

Kujundžić reacted saying that the transaction was transparent and lawful and that he had informed the commission of the purchase.

Kujundžić noted that the house is estimated at 195,000 euro and that he and his wife bought the house with a loan of 100,000 euro with the PBZ bank, 55,000 euro of their savings at the PBZ bank and 40,000 euro that he borrowed from friends of theirs for which he signed an agreement that was certified by a public notary and that that money was paid directly into the seller's account.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who is currently attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, commented briefly on the entire case and said that he would meet and talk with Kujundžić on Thursday.

"I can't much comment, I believe that he will explain everything," said Plenković.

More news about conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 3, 2019 - The GONG nongovernmental organisation said on Tuesday that it was intolerable that the government was disregarding laws and undermining the work of the independent Commission for the Prevention of Conflict of Interest, noting that a team should be sent to investigate the government for hiding documents in the Helsinki case.

"We are witnessing a situation in which an important anti-corruption body, chaired by Nataša Novaković, a week before International Anti-Corruption Day, December 9, is closing the Helsinki case because the prime minister and the government are persistently refusing to hand over documents on a trip to a meeting of the European People's Party (EPP) in Helsinki in late 2018," GONG said.

The NGO believes that the Commissioner for Information should send a team to investigate the government for hiding information, which, under the law, should be available to every citizen.

It therefore called on the Information Commissioner to act ex officio and send an inspection team to the government to help determine facts in the Helsinki case.

Novakovic said earlier in the day that no proceedings would be initiated against Plenković and several current and former ministers from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) for their trip to Helsinki on 7 and 8 November 2018 as the Conflict of Interest Commission had not been provided with necessary documents and data from the competent departments.

The Commission decided that the officials in question had violated principles of conduct as prescribed by legislation on the prevention of conflict of interest and acted irresponsibly and non-transparently by non-delivering the requested documents.

More news about the conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, October 30, 2019 - The Conflict of Interest Commission on Wednesday established that Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić had violated the principle of transparent action under the Conflict of Interest Act when he had accepted a scholarship from Zagreb's Cotrugli Business School in 2014.

There are no sanctions for violations of that article of the law.

In October 2018, the Conflict of Interest Commission initiated proceedings against the Opposition leader and member of parliament Davor Bernardić for receiving a scholarship from Zagreb's Cotrugli Business School. The agreement on scholarship also bound Bernardić to have 120 hours of research and scientific activities as well as consulting work and to promote that private school.

At the time when he accepted the scholarship agreement, he was the leader of the SDP branch in Zagreb and a politician, and had stopped pursuing his career of researcher three years before.

In October 2018 the rapporteur on this case, Davorin Ivanjek, said that an anonymous complaint had been filed against Bernardić following media reports that he had completed the Chief Executive MBA program at Cotrugli Business School, which costs some 263,000 kuna (35,500 euros). Bernardić had the program paid for him with a scholarship which, according to the complaint, qualifies as an impermissible gift.

Ivanjek said that it could be concluded from Bernardić's public statements that he had received the scholarship from the private company Cotrugli d.o.o. which owns Cotrugli Business School.

Noting that in this case Bernardić did not receive any money, Ivanjek said that free lectures could be considered a free service which may put an office holder in a dependable position and create an obligation towards the donor.

More news about conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, October 29, 2019 - Inspector-General Andrija Mikulić of the ruling HDZ party has entered incorrect data in his declaration of assets by failing to declare as many as 687 square metres of his house on the island of Krk, the RTL broadcaster's Potraga programme has discovered.

Mikulić stated in his declaration of assets that his house and the land it was built on measured 180 square metres while an inspection of land books showed that the property in question measures 867 square metres.

When contacted by RTL for a clarification, Mikulić said that the mistake was not intentional and that he had launched a procedure to change the area declared as well as to enter other changes he was required to enter by the end of the year.

He said that when declaring the property's area, he thought that he had to declare exclusively the area and value of the housing unit.

However, RTL says that the 180 square metres stated as the area of the house was not the accurate area of the house in Malinska on Krk. According to land books, one unit covers 154 square metres while the other measures 47 square metres.

"It is completely clear that what has to be declared is the total area of the land plot on which a house is built and that what is stated is the value of the house and its yard, i.e. the entire area and the total value of the real estate. That is important because declarations of assets must be accurate," the head of the Conflict of Interest Commission, Nataša Novaković, said.

Mikulić was unavailable for comment on Tuesday while his party colleagues, Health Minister Milan Kujundžić and Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Marko Pavić, expressed understanding for him, saying that what he did was an unintentional mistake.

More news about conflict of interest issues can be found in the Politics section.