ZAGREB, June 1, 2020 - Minister Tomislav Coric, who is also the Croatian Democratic Union's election agenda coordinator on Monday said that the party's election platform is a sort of transformation of the economy as a response to the COVID crisis and to the economic crisis that impacted the entire world.

"We will do that primarily through the affirmation of those sectors in which we will aspire for self- sufficiency and that of course includes the agriculture sector in particular and the energy sector," Coric disclosed.

He underscored that the HDZ platform framework also comprehends reforms which relate to public administration hence an entire series of moves that will primarily go towards increasing the efficiency of the state and public companies.

He underlined that the platform wishes to put on the front burner the economy's competitiveness, naturally based on low carbon emissions and clean technology.

ZAGREB, May 25, 2020 - Prime Minister and HDZ president Andrej Plenkovic said on Sunday the HDZ was going into the parliamentary election to win voters' confidence for "the second half" and that after the election he was willing to sit at the table with those that would pull Croatia forward but that Miroslav Skoro was not such a person.

"We coped with the pandemic crisis and now that we have finished the first half, we want to win voters' confidence for the second half so that we can embark on economic recovery," he said on RTL television.

He said the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) would present its platform "in the next few days" and that it "has everything Croatian citizens need in the future. We are willing to achieve that."

Plenkovic said the HDZ would run in the July 5 election with the partners it cooperated within 2016, reiterating that it would not form a coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and recalling that the HDZ never said it would form a coalition with Skoro's Homeland Movement, "let alone with Bridge, given our experience."

He reiterated that Skoro proved to be "a great partner to the SDP" and that he helped Zoran Milanovic be elected president.

"I'm willing to sit at the table with those who will pull Croatia forward. Miroslav Skoro is not that one, especially after the parliamentary election. Mr Skoro's partners have hurled so many lies, bile, and untruths at the HDZ and me. That's not my company... I want Croatian citizens to be the HDZ's main partner."

As for a possible post-election coalition with Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic, Plenkovic said he doubted that he could pass the electoral threshold. "I doubt it, especially after what he said a few days ago when he stated who did what for Zagreb after the earthquake."

He said the problems in drawing up a bill on the reconstruction of Zagreb surfaced between the Construction Ministry and the city, and that a consensus was reached only when he became involved.

Plenkovic confirmed that talks were held with Marijana Petir to be on an HDZ slate in the coming election as well as with Mladen Markac, but denied that he had discussed that also with the former head of state Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.

"There's no need for that. I didn't notice that she wants to be an MP," he said. Asked if Grabar-Kitarovic might be in the next government if the HDZ won, he said they had not talked about it.

Plenkovic confirmed that the head of the COVID-19 crisis management team, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, as well as Health Minister Vili Beros would be on HDZ slates, but that there had been no talk about team members Alemka Markotic and Krunoslav Capak being listed. He added that he wanted former defense minister Damir Krsticevic to be on an HDZ slate.

Asked about his communication with President Milanovic, Plenkovic said they spoke on the phone and consult when necessary. "And when there are outstanding issues, it ends up in the media."

ZAGREB, May 24, 2020 - The political platforms and parties led by activists Tomislav Tomasevic and Sandra Bencic on Sunday reiterated their accusations against Mayor Milan Bandic and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) for failure to take decisive steps in the post-quake rebuilding of the city.

"We believe that the political passiveness of the HDZ and of Mayor Milan Bandic will cause a political quake in the next parliamentary elections," said Tomasevic, who together with another five activists held a news conference in front of Government House, on Sunday morning.

Tomasevic held a grudge against Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic for failing to initiate an international donor conference for the post-quake reconstruction of the capital city, and in this context he mentioned that for instance, Albania organised such conference for raising a billion euros, two months after its devastating quake in 2019. Northwestern Albania was struck by a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake on 26 November.

Zagreb and its environs were hit by a 5.5-strong quake on 22 March.

ZAGREB, May 23, 2020 - Former HDZ leader and deputy prime minister Tomislav Karamarko said on Saturday that the accusations against his wife Ana Karamarko made by the prosecutorial authorities who are probing nine companies and 38 persons on suspicion of tax fraud are "the theatre of the absurd".

In his lengthy Facebook account on this investigation against his wife and other 37 persons believed to have committed tax evasion and other murky dealings, Karamarko said that "this theatre of the absurd" was another attempt to find anything that could incriminate him.

Karamarko criticizes the media coverage of the whole case and also wonders how come those reporters of the Jutarnji List daily arrived in front of his flat at the same when the police officers who then arrested his wife.

He also criticizes media outlets for insisting on and highlighting that one of those 38 suspects in this operation was the wife of Tomislav Karamarko.

Karamarko associated in an ironic comment that with speculations that "some elections will be held soon and I will reportedly be some sort of candidate."

He said that all those developments resembled the political showdown in 2016 when he resigned as the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) after the Bridge party used "infantile moves" to topple down the government and accuse him of the conflict of interest and of advocating the interests of the Hungarian side in the INA-MOL case.

He went on today that he was exposed to all those attacks due to "his ideological structure and policies" which he was trying to pursue and implement.

In this context he said that he had tried to strengthen domestic production, limit the power of lobbies of importers, strengthen SMEs, create an implementable population policy, conduct lustration, and prosecute communist crime.

His wife Ana Karamarko was arrested last Wednesday as one of the suspects in an investigation into the suspected financial crime. After she was questioned by the authorities she was released in the evening that day because anti-corruption investigators did not ask that she be remanded in custody.

The investigation covers nine companies and 38 persons, one of whom has been in prison from before while six are currently beyond the reach of Croatian police.

Tomislav Pavkovic and Oliver Kolobaric are believed to have led the group suspected of conspiring for the purpose of evading taxes and customs duties, abuse of trust in business operations, and aiding and abetting the commission of those crimes.

The group, suspected of using fictitious contracts to siphon HRK 20 million from a number of companies, defrauding the state of HRK 11 million in the process, was allegedly put together by the two men.

The persons in question and their companies are suspected of charging non-existent services via fictitious invoices and tax fraud from 2017 until 2019.

ZAGREB, May 23, 2020 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardic said on Saturday in Dubrovnik that voting for the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) meant voting for corruption.

Responding to Plenkovic's statement in an interview that a vote for Miroslav Skoro was a vote for the SDP, the opposition leader thus reiterated his accusations against the HDZ.

He went on to say that during the four-year of the term of the current government Plenkovic "has hidden behind Brussels, his aides, various task forces, the virus, and crisis management teams."

Commenting on Plenkovic's statement that the ban on Sunday work will be lifted if it is established that it is no longer required epidemiologically, but that he is for Sunday to be a non-working day, the SDP chief said that Plenkovic could not decide whether to have working or non-working Sundays.

"He could not take a position on important decisions for Croatia. Therefore, he cannot be at the helm of Croatia, and he will not be after 5 July," Bernardic said at a news conference in Dubrovnik before an SDP meeting.

Bernardic accused the Plenkovic government of lack of care for the tourism sector and promised that as soon as the SDP won the election, that party would reduce Value Added Tax in tourism and hospitality to 10%. 

ZAGREB, May 22, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday that President Zoran Milanovic's statement that he might not go to the polls to vote in the parliamentary election is a striking message to Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardic and voters on the left.

"I didn't have time to see his interview because I was in Rijeka. I think that that is a striking message for Davor Bernardic, and for voters on the left," Plenkovic said when asked to comment on Milanovic's statement about considering not to go to the polls on 5 July for the reason of impartiality.

Considering Milanovic's statement that there would not be the usual consultations after the election, Plenkovic said that if voters give the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) their confidence, after the election the party would talk with potential partners.

"As usual, we will seek 76 signatures and when someone has 76 signatures regardless of the model of consultations, everything is clear," Plenkovic said.

Asked whether his position as prime minister was an advantage in the parliamentary election, Plenkovic claimed that in the last campaign he was not in government yet HDZ won then too.

"The theory of separating the party from politics does not exist. For example, after a president is elected he is no longer a member of any party hence he has the liberty to say he won't go to the poll and support Bernardic who had strongly supported him to become president," concluded Plenkovic.

ZAGREB, May 21, 2020 - Ana Karamarko, wife of former HDZ president Tomislav Karamarko, was released from custody on Wednesday evening because anti-corruption investigators did not ask that she be remanded in custody after earlier in the day she was arrested as part of an investigation into the suspected financial crime.

Karamarko was questioned on Wednesday evening by investigators with the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK), after which she was released pending further proceedings, Hina learned from sources close to the investigation.

Her lawyer Ivo Farcic said that his client had denied any involvement in the criminal activity she is suspected of.

"She is suspected of issuing an invoice in the amount of HRK 400,000 for a service rendered, but she is not suspected of having kept the money for herself," Farcic said.

A decision on whether the other 30 people arrested as part of the investigation will be remanded in custody will be known after they are questioned. The investigation covers nine companies and 38 persons, one of whom has been in prison from before while six are currently beyond the reach of Croatian police.

Tomislav Pavkovic and Oliver Kolobaric are believed to have led the group suspected of conspiring for the purpose of evading taxes and customs duties, abuse of trust in business operations, and aiding and abetting the commission of those crimes.

The group, suspected of using fictitious contracts to siphon HRK 20 million from a number of companies, defrauding the state of HRK 11 million in the process, was allegedly put together by the two men.

The persons in question and their companies are suspected of charging non-existent services via fictitious invoices and tax fraud from 2017 until 2019.

ZAGREB, May 20, 2020 - Police on Wednesday launched an operation in cooperation with the USKOK anti-corruption office targeting a number of companies and about 30 persons for siphoning money via fictitious invoices, including Ana Karamarko, wife of former HDZ president Tomislav Karamarko. 

The suspects are being arrested and their homes and offices searched, unofficial sources said. Neither the police nor USKOK has made a comment yet.

The persons in question and their companies are suspected of charging non-existent services via fictitious invoices and tax fraud from 2017 until 2019.

Vecernji List daily said they were suspected of illegally gaining HRK 20 million and defrauding the state of HRK 11 million.

According to unofficial sources, Ana Karamarko's company Drimia paid HRK 400,000 for fictitious services.

In 2016, because of Drimia's cooperation with Jozo Petrovic, a consultant for the Hungarian energy group MOL, Tomislav Karamarko stepped down as deputy prime minister and HDZ president.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

ZAGREB, May 20, 2020 - Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) secretary-general Gordan Jandrokovic said on Tuesday that a grand coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) "is not an option that interests us" and that the SDP did not have a man who was a match for HDZ leader and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

"We believe we will achieve a relative victory and find partners to form the government and avoid connecting with the SDP," the speaker of the parliament which dissolved on Monday said about the upcoming election.

Speaking on the public broadcaster, Jandrokovic said he expected President Zoran Milanovic to be the president of all citizens. Commenting on Milanovic's role in the election campaign, he said, "In a certain way, he is choosing a side and discretely trying to help the SDP."

Speaking of SDP leader Davor Bernardic, Jandrokovic said: "he is not up to the task of (being prime minister) either as a man or as a politician."

Asked about a national salvation government in cases of a second COVID-19 wave, he said that for now, he did not see the need for that. "Who would be our partners in this grand coalition? Those of yesterday or today, who have shown how irresponsibly they approach serious matters?"

Jandrokovic said the opposition, which demanded a parliamentary election in recent months, was now scared because Plenkovic and the HDZ had done an excellent job in dealing with the corona crisis and that this was why it had begun to defame the members of the crisis management team "in an ugly and inappropriate manner."

ZAGREB, May 18, 2020 - The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) presidency donated on Monday HRK 1.1 million to the "Together for Zagreb" emergency relief campaign launched after a 5.5-strong earthquake struck Zagreb and its surroundings on March 22.

"The presidency of the Croatian Democratic Union, at the suggestion of the party's president, Andrej Plenkovic, decided to donate HRK 1.1 million to the 'Together for Zagreb' campaign for the repair of damage caused by the earthquake in the City of Zagreb and its surroundings. The donation was made today," the HDZ said.

They reiterated that all members of the government and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic had already paid the full amount of their March salary into the campaign's account.

By doing so, together with the HDZ, they have donated about HRK 1.5 million to help remove the consequences of the quake that hit Zagreb and its environs on March 22.

The HDZ also underscored that the Croatian government had passed a decision on March 24 so that donations could be paid into an account for the repair of the damage in the City of Zagreb and its surroundings following the disaster, as part of the "Together for Zagreb" campaign.