November 25, 2022 - The former minister of regional development and funds of the European Union, Gabrijela Žalac (HDZ), celebrated her 40th birthday at the beginning of 2019 at the Šarm restaurant in Zagreb.

The bill was huge, a total of HRK 23,750. The Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds approved that account for payment on March 4, 2019, at the expense of the Operational Program Competitiveness and Cohesion, i.e. from EU funds. Telegram.hr reports today that the disputed account is in the case file of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, on the basis of whose order minister Žalac was arrested at the end of last year on suspicion of illegalities in the process of public procurement of an IT system, known as the "software affair" discovered by Telegram.

The European investigator's office is in possession of invoices proving that the Ministry headed by Gabrijela Žalac spent more than two million kuna in just one year for catering, various meetings, conferences and working groups, or hotel and restaurant services. There is a well-founded suspicion that these expenses were often a cover for issuing fictitious invoices. Telegram's source reveals that, for example, on January 31, 2019, food was ordered for 50 people of the Interdepartmental Working Group for the preparation of the National Development Strategy until 2030, but the food was allegedly not delivered at that meeting, for which the ministry was later billed in the amount from HRK 14,000. The participants of the meeting said that on that occasion they were not served oxtail soup, duck pâté, or beef loin bruschetta. On February 13, 2019, the ministry headed by minister Žalac paid that bill to the company Gero. d.o.o. which owns the restaurant Atlanta Bocca Marai, and it was at the expense of the Sector for expert management and coordination of investments from EU instruments.

The invoices combed by the Office of the European Investigator were often issued after midnight, and there was no cost specification on them, but only the total amount, which most often ranged from HRK 10 to 20 thousand. None of the invoices included the names of the persons who attended the lunches or dinners, although this is an obligation imposed by fiscal responsibility. Telegram unofficially learned that at the celebration of the minister's 40th birthday in the Šarm restaurant in February 2019, among others, there was Mladen Šimunac, owner of the company Micro Projekt, whom the Office of the European Investigator suspects because of the contract concluded with the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds regarding with the installation of the SPUR software, as well as Tomislav Petric, at that time the director of SAFU, arrested on November 10 last year, when Gabrijela Žalac was also arrested. According to Telegram's source, the guests at that party were Ivana Jakir Bajo, then the chief state treasurer, now the vice-governor of the Croatian National Bank, and the then Minister of Agriculture and Deputy Prime Minister, Tomislav Tolušić. 

Interestingly, the costs of the consumption of spirits and wine, drunk during dinners and lunches were paid by the state budget, since the rules of EU funds do not recognize the costs of alcohol consumed at conferences. Those bills, Telegram's source claims, were mostly signed by the then minister Žalac, state secretaries or others from the minister's cabinet.

October 27, 2022 - After the arrests of several former ministers made a big, but short splash on the Croatian political scene, now USKOK has published the details of the indictments against them.

The four former ministers from the Plenković government in the focus of the investigation are Darko Horvat, Boris Milošević, Tomislav Tolušić and Josip Aladrović. There are also four other suspects in two branches of the investigation, launched due to alleged illegalities with the awarding of funding.

Without specifying the identities of the defendants, USKOK reported that, in addition to the four ministers, it had filed indictments against Horvat's assistant Ana Mandac, former State Secretary of the Ministry of Regional Development Velimir Žunac, Director of the Administration for Assisted Areas Katica Mišković and Županja Mayor Damir Juzbašić.

The prosecutor's office announced that eight defendants are charged with misuse of position and authority, inciting and assisting in the misuse of position and authority, trading in influence, and assisting in trading in influence. Uskok specifies that Horvat is accused of putting his assistant Ana Mandac in charge of implementing the Program "Development of small and medium-sized enterprises and crafts in areas inhabited by members of national minorities". 2.65 million kuna in grants was awarded to "business entities" in which he was personally interested or at the instigation of Tolušić, Žunac, Mišković and Milošević. At the same time, USKOK adds, Mandac, according to Horvat's orders and the requests of Tolušić, Žunac, Mišković and Milošević and third unidentified persons, made a spreadsheet with the amounts of grants and economic entities to which these funds are allocated and then instructed the expert services to ensure the signing of the payment contract incentive.

USKOK's indictment also states that Horvat has used the authority of a minister and previously a member of parliament, through Ana Mandac, from January 2018 to April 2019, and asked the then-director of the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute (HZMO) Josip Aladrović to favor the employment of a certain candidate in HZMO. Aladrović, USKOK points out, then sent through Mandac the questionnaires which were to be used in the selection process to the candidate, which gave her an advantage over the other candidates. After several additional corrupt steps, HZMO ended up signing an employment contract with her for an indefinite period. According to the media, the candidate/employee in question is Lidija Sinković, whose father is Horvat's friend. Ana Mandac is also accused of asking Aladrović, at Juzbašić's request, to favor another candidate in order to hire her at HZMO, which Aladrović did the same way as previously described. After the candidate achieved the maximum number of points, she was also employed on an indefinite contract. The media previously reported that this part of the indictments refers to Petra Periša.

September 1, 2022 - Citizens of the Republic of Croatia are not used to a high level of political culture, honesty, and truthfulness. While in the normal world politicians resign even for the smallest offenses or breaches of duty, in Croatia even those who are proven guilty should be forced out of their positions. Political responsibility and self-criticism simply do not exist. As the INA case unfolds, this becomes more and more apparent.

As Index writes, some statements are too much even for Croatia. It is one thing to cover one's ears, remain silent, and not admit responsibility for certain failures, and it is quite another to claim that these failures are proof of the abilities, moral qualities, and work of those who are responsible for them.

Plenković says that he should be congratulated after the theft of the century

This is what Andrej Plenković said at the press conference after the coalition meeting of the ruling parties where the INA case was discussed: "The key message is that the institutions of the Croatian state, rather the government, were the ones who discovered this case of abuse, not the police or the judicial authorities, but the Office for the Prevention of Money Laundering, a department within the Ministry of Finance". He added that the opposition, instead of demanding elections, should - congratulate the government.

But the facts do not support his arrogant statements. Not only did the government not detect the theft of the century, but it also directly facilitated it. This is the real truth, and it is not difficult to prove it, no matter what Plenković arrogantly claims.

Plenković and the HDZ government directly appointed the INA Administration, at which he is now theatrically "furious"

First of all, the Prime Minister, who claims to be furious with the INA Board, should be reminded that he appointed the people who make up the Croatian quota. According to the agreement, Croatia has the right to three members of the INA Management Board, and they are appointed by the government.

In 2020, Plenković, i.e., the government, appointed Croatian members of the Management Board, with whom the same Plenković is now theatrically "furious". On March 31 of that year, a meeting of the Supervisory Board of INA was held, where new members of the company's Management Board were appointed at the proposal of the government, led by Andrej Plenković: Barbara Dorić, Darko Markotić, and Niko Dalić.

They were the replacement of the previous members, who were also appointed by the HDZ government in 2011, and the prime minister and leader of the HDZ at that time was Jadranka Kosor.

If the Administration appointed by Plenković had done its job, there would have been no theft

If the Board had done its job the case wouldn’t exist, and the Board was appointed by Plenković himself. Admittedly, he only replaced the former HDZ members with a new set, except for one man. That is Niko Dalić, who has been on the INA Management Board for more than a decade. Jadranka Kosor appointed him there in 2011.

If that name doesn’t ring a bell,  remember who managed Agrokor during its collapse and who the ringleader was of the Borg group. For her "services", she was awarded the position of president of the Podravka Management Board in February of this year, which was personally advocated by Plenković. She was even at his place for a kind of job interview, which the media and economists interpreted as the prime minister's direct recruitment in a state-owned company.

Niko Dalić from the INA Management Board is, of course, the husband of Martina Dalić, the Minister of Finance in Plenković's government, who was appointed head of Podravka by Plenković and who led, to put it mildly, the dubious "restructuring" of Agrokor. He is much less exposed in the media, but that is why he survived a whole decade on the INA Management Board.

He was the only one who survived Plenković's change of Croatian members. A trustworthy man, one would say. The current government did not only appoint the Management Board of INA, but also appointed HDZ member Damir Mikuljan as president of the Supervisory Board at the end of last year, and Davor Filipović, a man who had previously been spectacularly defeated in the elections for mayor of Zagreb, as a member.

>> Nacional: Plenković personally chose Dalić and her husband, they have a salary of HRK 200,000

HDZ minister was informed that Ina was losing money. He did nothing and could have prevented the theft

In an interview for N1, Damir Vanđelić, the former head of the Supervisory Board of INA, who was replaced by Damir Mikuljan in December 2021, said that he had informed the authorities, including the then HDZ Minister of Economy Tomislav Ćorić, that INA was losing money.

By the way, Damir Mikuljan, who replaced Damir Vanđelić, is the head of something called the Honorable Court of the HDZ. He will probably decide on the party line of the alleged organiser of the theft of the century, Damir Škugor. The arrested Škugor was also the man of honor for HDZ general secretary Krunoslav Katičić.

That Škugor is active in HDZ was revealed through photos of him hugging Plenković himself and the President of the Croatian Parliament, Goran Jandroković, although the government spokesman claimed before the photos were published that the Prime Minister did not know him.

"Last year in May, we reacted to the Supervisory Board and asked for a session because eight people in high positions in INA were dismissed," said Vanđelić. "I put the topic on for the Supervisory Board at that time, that is May 2021, I asked in English what the plan was when eight people were dismissed. I didn't know about Škugor at the time, but something was happening. Eight good people were dismissed then, they were paid severance pay to leave. That's why I asked what the plan was. We did not receive satisfactory answers."

"The answer was that they were improving the organisation," he added. "I didn't get any answer. I got some calls, mocking us from Supervisory Board because we are problematising the topics of staffing and gas business," he said. "Ćorić told me to politicise and do some other business".

HDZ's Čorić responded: "Vanđelic is very creative in presenting alternative facts". After that statement, evidence was published, an e-mail in which Vanđelić stated that he noticed the "leakage of funds from INA" and informed Ćorić about the problem. Vanđelić sent the mail to his colleagues in the Supervisory Board two weeks earlier and then forwarded it to Ćorić, in which he compared the operations of INA and MOL.

>> Published email in which Vanđelić warned Ćorić that Ina was losing a lot of money

Soon after that, he was removed from the head of the Supervisory Board and was replaced by the previously mentioned Damir Mikuljan, head of the Honorable Court of HDZ.

It is not difficult to notice that just last year, while the theft of the century was taking place, HDZ's staffing in INA was going on. It is arrogant and insulting to the intelligence of the citizens that Plenković claims that the government exposed the theft. By all accounts, the government directly set up Škugor and all the others who made a billion kuna disappear right in front of their noses.

>> Tomislav Ćorić could have prevented the theft of the century. Vuković: This is astonishing

Rakar: The theft was discovered by the banks. It is impossible to declare this a discovery of the government

HDZ's responsibility does not end with staffing at INA. The government is, of course, only a branch of HDZ, and HDZ recruits all over the country.

"I don't see how it is possible to declare the fact that the banks discovered a suspicious payment to the account of a natural person (in no less than a nine-digit amount in kuna) a victory or a great discovery when that same money was created by manipulation and de facto theft from an extremely organised company traded on the stock exchange in which the Republic of Croatia possesses almost 50 percent of the ownership, the president and several members of the Supervisory Board and several members of the company's Management Board. In addition, the entire operation took place through another company, which is owned by a utility company owned by the county, and CroPlin (which is 100% owned by the same INA)", Marko Rakar from the Association of Authorized Fraud Investigators told Index.

"This is proof that the mechanisms of management, control, and supervision in a whole series of companies, but also the state and counties, have completely failed", he concluded.

One of the channels through which money was extracted from INA is The Gas Company of Eastern Slavonia, headed by Marija Ratkić, also a member of HDZ. She defended herself before USKOK that she was only carrying out the orders of her party colleague Damir Škugor.

The Gas Plant Eastern Slavonia is owned by the Vukovar-Srijem County, whose prefect is Damir Dekanić. You guessed it, he is also an HDZ member. He has been a member since 1990 and since 2020 the vice president of the party in Vukovar-Srijem County. You don't need to guess a lot to conclude which party is recruiting in Plinara of Eastern Slavonia.

>> Gas plant revenues from the theft of the century jumped sharply last year. No one found this strange

Fina praised the company through which the theft from INA happened. And Fina, of course, is managed by HDZ

The ones who reported the suspicious events that led to the exposure of the theft of the century in Croatia are - private banks. And in addition to the internal controls of INA and Gas Plant Eastern Slavonia at least two state institutions, Fina and the Tax Administration, also failed.

The first one had all the information related to the company OMS-Upravljanje d.o.o., through which money was primarily extracted from INA. "The small and micro-entrepreneurs with the highest profit for the period in 2021 were: CENTRICE ZAGREB d.o.o., HT HOLDING d.o.o. and SUPERNOVA BUZIN d.o.o. (small) and CENTAR BUNDEK d.o.o. in bankruptcy, BELVEDERE d.d. in bankruptcy and OMS-UPRALJANJE d.o.o. (micro)", announced Fina in a press release just two months ago.

According to information from Fina, OMS-Upravljanje is in third place among the micro-entrepreneurs with the highest profit. Their profit was HRK 117 million 277 thousand. In 2021, OMS-Upravljanje had a higher profit than all those who were on the list of the top 5 small entrepreneurs.

The fact that a micro-company with one employee founded in 2019 had a higher profit than most medium-sized entrepreneurs, which have from 50 to 250 employees, should have immediately set off an alarm in Fina. But nobody reacted, and by chance or not, the head of Fina is another HDZ member, Dražen Čović.

>> The key company from the INA theft was on Fina's top list. Nobody even blinked

Plenković insults the intelligence of citizens

Nothing was suspicious, and no one knew anything. And many not only could but had to know. They get paid to do it. Internal control and management of INA, external auditors of INA, internal control and external auditors of Gas Plant Eastern Slavonia, FINA, Tax Administration, and many others.

The impression is that many people knew, or at least more than have been arrested (so far). HDZ appears in one way or another connected with the name of everyone involved with this theft of the century, whether it was a person directly involved or someone who should have reacted to obvious signs that something strange was going on.

If Plenković had just said today that HDZ and the government have nothing to do with what is happening around INA, it would be a blatant lie. Claiming that the HDZ government is responsible for uncovering the looting is a step beyond lying, making fools of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia.

The arrogance of that statement alone is enough for resignation, and as it has been proven that HDZ and Plenković directly staffed INA while the theft of the century was taking place, the resignation should be insisted on because of the direct responsibility for the disappearance of billions of kuna.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Politics section.

ZAGREB, 8 April (2022) - Construction Minister Ivan Paladina said on Friday that after stepping into office he had informed his colleagues at the Ministry that he would no longer be involved in the Kupari tourism project, adding that the two complaints sent to the Conflict of Interest Commission were unfounded.

The Conflict of Interest Commission has confirmed receipt of two complaints over whether the newly-appointed minister should have stated the value of securities, rather than receivables, in his declaration of assets.

Addressing the press after a cabinet meeting, Paladina said he had declared his assets to the Conflict of Interest Commission two or three days after becoming minister and that he had consulted them on the steps he should take, in particular regarding the Kupari project.

Paladina said he had filled in his declaration of assets according to the Commission's instructions and following advice from legal experts.

Earlier on Friday, the Conflict of Interest Commission advised Paladina against participating in decision making on a project to build a hotel resort in Kupari near Dubrovnik.

Paladina said he had already recused himself from the project by transferring his powers to the ministry's state secretary and added that within the next 30 days he would transfer his managing rights over his share.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 22 July 2021 - The Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) on Wednesday launched an investigation against 12 persons who were arrested by the police in Split on Tuesday on the graft charges.

The police directorate confirmed on Tuesday that 12 people were apprehended after early morning raids were conducted, including in the city's administration offices in that biggest Croatian coastal city.

The police said that the evidence was being collected and once the criminal investigation was over, the public would be informed of the details.

The anti-corruption raid led to the arrest of businessmen Mario Jukić and Zvonko Kotarac, his brother Ivan Kotarac, architects Emil Šverko and Neno Kezić, a former councilor from the HGS party, Danijela Špalj, a former head of the physical planning and construction department in the city administration, Lada Pocrnić Mladinić, her husband Neven Mladinić and assistant Ljiljana Poletti Kopešić.

The suspects are believed to have conspired to enable the investors of the Amphora Hotel and buildings at the suburbs of Meje to illegally gain €3.2 million.

USKOK also demanded detention for five of the 12 arrested persons.

For more news about Croatia, click here.

ZAGREB, 1 July 2021 - The USKOK anti-corruption office and police continued an anti-corruption operation in Zagreb on Thursday arresting, according to unofficial information, eight businessmen and two city employees.

According to unofficial information, the city employees received money from the businessmen who wanted to land jobs from the city.

The media reported that one of those arrested was Zdranko Čabraja, a member of late mayor Milan Bandić's Labour and Solidarity Party's city committee.

A number of persons connected with Bandić were arrested yesterday, including the HRT public broadcaster's director, Kazimir Bačić, allegedly suspected of influence-peddling in exchange for a flat he was given as a bribe by businessman Milan Lončarić, also arrested on Wednesday.

Media reported that Bačić allegedly mediated between Lončarić and Bandić for the legalization of the Gardens of Light projects and that he personally brought money to Bandić in his office.

Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević yesterday confirmed the arrest of two city employees, the head of the mayor's staff service, Andreja Šulentić, and former Bandić chauffeur Zdravko Krajina.

Among those arrested yesterday are another Bandić chauffer, Vladimir Žaja, a former head of the Commission for the lease of public areas, Jelena Čeklić, the head of the mayor's staff service, Andreja Šulentić, Denis Mohenski, also known as the King of Advent, and Ana Stavljenić Rukavina, a former associate of Bandić's.

The police and USKOK are expected to say more about the arrests during the day.

For more news in Croatia, click here.

ZAGREB, 15 June, 2021 - The National Anti-Corruption Council on Tuesday interviewed the dismissed head of the radiology ward of Zagreb's Sisters of Charity Hospital, Dijana Zadravec, who presented her evidence of criminal activities used to siphon money from the hospital.

Zadravec, who has been on sick leave since May, told members of that parliamentary body that she learned yesterday from the media that acting hospital director Zoran Vatavuk had given her a warning before dismissal for harming the hospital's reputation, noting that the hospital's reputation was harmed by corruption and those who committed and covered it up.

Zadravec said that her fight against corruption started in 2016, when her persecution and harassment started as well.

She said that as the deputy hospital head she reported in 2016 the charging of fictitious overtime work which the then director Mario Zovak had covered up, adding that she had reported this to the prosecutorial authorities and the Health Ministry.

Zadravec said that in late 2020 she discovered a criminal network at the hospital, with public money being siphoned by doctors, which was why she reported them for abuse of office.

The doctor, who claims to have extensive documentation proving her allegations, says that offers to suppliers with whom the hospital did business without public tenders, since the last public tender was conducted in 2019, were signed by doctors Vladimir Kalousek and Branimir Čule, and that the offers exceeded HRK 30 million.

She also cited cases when less material was used for operations than the quantity ordered from suppliers.

Commenting on Zadravec's allegations, the State Secretary and chair of the Sisters of Charity Hospital Steering Board, Tomislav Dulibić, said that hospital documentation was being checked by inspectors from the health and finance ministries and the HZZO health insurance agency.

"According to preliminary information, no significant departures have been found, except for some minor irregularities. Eleven inspectors are working on this, invite them to testify," Dulibić told the Anti-Corruption Council.

He said that the decision to carry out the inspection at the hospital was made a couple of weeks ago, noting that the relevant proceedings were underway.

The chair of the Anti-Corruption Council, Nikola Grmoja, asked if anyone had responded to Zadravec's claims, to which Zadravec said that after she reported the false charging of overtime work, Health Ministry inspectors were called in and concluded that the matter should be investigated by the hospital director.

Allegations should be investigated as soon as possible 

After conducting the interviews today, the Anti-Corruption Council adopted a conclusion asking the ministries of health, finances and economy as well as the prosecutorial authorities and the USKOK anti-corruption office to determine facts related to the case as soon as possible.

Zadravec was told to submit copies of the reports she had sent to the competent authorities as well as the text message in which, she claims, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković lobbied for Zovak's reappointment as the hospital head.

The Anti-Corruption Council will send the audio recording of today's hearing to the prosecutorial authorities, and it will ask the Health Ministry to submit all documents on inspections conducted at the hospital since 2016 or explain why no inspections were conducted.

The Council will also ask the government to secure additional conditions for the employment of financial investigators at courts in four big cities.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 15 June, 2021 - The emigration of Croatian citizens, in addition to having incalculable implications for the country's pension, education and health care system, has also lead to a rise in corruption in Croatia, Večernji List newspaper said on Tuesday, citing a study by Tado Jurić, a political scientist and historian from the Croatian Catholic University.

The study showed that corruption and emigration were interrelated.

Jurić compared corruption and migration trends from 2012 to 2020, notably the number of Croatians who emigrated to Germany, the country where most Croatians go to in search of work and a better livelihood, and the ranking of Croatia in the global corruption index, and found that corruption was more pronounced when the number of people who left the country was higher. Croatia ranked 63rd among 180 countries included in the corruption index in 2019 and 2020, and 50th before the emigration wave reached its peak.

"Common sense says that if people who are not involved in corruption networks emigrate and those who stay are involved in such networks, corruption activities will be even easier to carry out and more frequent. If critics leave, all the better and easier for those criticised," Jurić says, adding that corruption is deeply rooted in Croatian society and has become a parallel system that undermines the economy.

"Corruption has done even more damage to the Croatian national identity, the sense of unity and solidarity, and to Croatian culture in general than it has done to the economy, which is unquestionably enormous. The main negative effect of corruption affected the country's human resources and political stability. In Croatian society, corruption has become a privilege of the elites, but so-called major corruption, political corruption and clientelism should not be confused with so-called civil corruption.

"So-called elite corruption has given rise to a special phenomenon in society which could be called 'a revolt of the elites'. It is the elites that use the media for their everyday protests against the media, citizens and institutions, making citizens accustomed to the practice that they should not express their dissatisfaction with politicians, but that politicians should express their dissatisfaction with them," Jurić said.

The study shows that 65.3 percent of 178 small, medium and large companies polled said that corruption has been on the rise in the last five years, while 32.4 percent believe that there has been no significant change.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

9 June 2021 – Police apprehended three judges from Osijek this morning in a case seemingly involving serious corruption in Croatia.

Croatian judicial system has been a point of controversy throughout recent history. Still, it is rare that the police actually get a cause for arrest. Three judges from Osijek, Darko Kruslin, Zvonko Vekic, and Ante Kvesic, were apprehended this morning. This comes after charges brought forth by controversial football manager Zdravko Mamic.

Zdravko Mamic and his brother Zoran Mamic have their own problems with the law. They were recently found guilty of extracting 116 million Croatian Kunas from Dinamo Zagreb football club by the Croatian Supreme Court. Zoran Mamic was the acting club manager at the time. They are currently in Bosnia and Herzegovina with Croatia seemingly unable to work out extradition with the local government.

Accusations of Corruption

Index.hr reports Zdravko Mamic supposedly delivered a USB memory drive to USKOK (Bureau for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime) back in October. It contained evidence of various corruption acts the judges committed. He later held a press conference in which he made various accusations of racketeering, accepting bribes, and secret meetings during ongoing cases. He claimed judge Vekic asked him for help in obtaining a higher professional function and extorted €500,000 that he planned on dividing with Kruslin and Kvesic. Mamic said he paid the money in order to have the charges against him dropped. He also mentioned another €100,000 EUR being paid through Zoran Mamic and Drago Tadic – the arrested entrepreneur. On another occasion, Zdravko Mamic supposedly had given Darko Kruslin an expensive watch as a gift. Kruslin later returned the timepiece when Mamic's case went to court in Osijek.

When reading through the entire set of accusations, it becomes clear the men involved had socialised on a number of occasions. Unfortunately, these social circles that feature people holding high positions in various branches of the government and controversial entrepreneurs are nothing new in Croatia. If this case turns out to be valid, it will be an interesting precedent for the future. Having a long-time controversial figure like Zdravko Mamic putting in motion such an important corruption case is a perfect irony to cap the story off.

For more on the latest news out of Croatia, click here.