March the 18th, 2021 - The state can count on far less when it comes to Croatian company profit this year when compared to 2020, but the Ministry of State Property had a far better year than could ever have been predicted given the dire circumstances.

As Marija Brnic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, last year was marked by a state of emergency due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and several serious earthquakes, but the Ministry of State Property still managed to yield even better results than could have been expected.

According to the Annual Report on the Implementation of Specific Objectives and Reform Measures of the Strategic Plan for State Property Management for the Period from 2020 to 2022, recently published by the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Property, activities and financial effects in property purchase and activation are above expectations, and although things are weaker than they were back in pre-pandemic 2019, there was an extremely high level of income. That income came from the collected dividend from the operations of companies of special state interest and those from the portfolio of the Centre for Restructuring and Sales (CERP).

As a rule, Croatian company profit comes in its largest part in the form of income earned from property, after the emptying of the portfolio finally reduced the scope of privatisation processes, and last year the total profit of companies in which the state is a shareholder earned 946 million kuna.

Most of it relates to the so-called strategic companies, while 52 million kuna came from Croatian company profits that are in the CERP portfolio. One year earlier, the state collected slightly more from Croatian company profit than it did in pandemic dominated 2020 - 1.118 billion kuna.

The report doesn't provide any details on payments made by individual companies, so it isn't clear whether or not they're all included the aforementioned figures, because for example, in INA's case, the Croatian state and MOL agreed that the payment would be given to them as large shareholders to preserve business stability before January the 15th, 2021.

The payment of INA's profit, from which 279 million kuna went to the state, was made the day before the aforementioned deadline. Regardless of whether this amount is added to last year's or this year's profit income, the effect of the coronavirus pandemic and the earthquakes which rocked the country will be felt in this year's profit income, which, in the annual plan of the Ministry, for this year is projected to stand at only 360 million kuna.

The biggest failure has been recorded from the sale of shares and stakes in the Croatian company portfolio. For the last year, it is optimistically predicted that "classic privatisation" will bring with it 870 million kuna, but last year privatisation failed and brought not even a tenth of the expected amount, resulting in a mere 85 million kuna.

All revenue was generated through transactions of CERP, which sold shares in 42 companies with a total of 5 million kuna through public bidding, earning 34 million kuna through the stock exchange by selling shares in 12 companies.

Individually, the most valuable for the state was the procedure of withdrawing Badel 1862 from the registration fee on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, which earned it 38 million kuna.  It also earned 7 million kuna in the process of ousting minority shareholders in seven such cases.

Apart from natural disasters, last year's election cycle also had an effect on the functioning of property management in Croatia, when the new government was followed by a transformation of the organisation of ministries and the Ministry of State Property was annexed to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Construction.

However, the matter of dealing with the registration and activation of state-owned property under the new competent minister Darko Horvat remains in focus. The report shows that last year the number of properties under said management increased by more than 500, and the year ended with 6,723 such properties, and the total value of the lease agreement stood at 96 million kuna.

However, the real estate portfolio of the Ministry of State Property was reduced last year, so even in the conditions of the pandemic, the economic lockdown and the elections, public tenders were announced and 316 contracts on the sale of property worth more than 120 million kuna were concluded.

The Ministry of State Property also emphasised in the report that after the earthquakes that hit the City of Zagreb, and Zagreb and Krapina-Zagorje counties, a significant amount of employees were engaged in recording the situation and work related to repairing damaged buildings, but also in resolving the housing of citizens whose property was damaged during the earthquake.

The growth of the number of new lease agreements slowed down, with only seventeen being concluded, worth a total of 5 million kuna, which, in terms of reforms and property activation, is a weaker achievement, so the revenues from property management were significantly "thinner" in the end than they were back in 2019, when they amounted to 210 million kuna. In 2020, that figure was 155 million kuna less.

One of the most important models of activating state property last year lay in donations for various projects, and a total of 62 such contracts were concluded last year for property worth 402 million kuna. A significant number of them relate to infrastructure projects, as well as business incubators and waste management projects.

The most valuable donated property is part of the former Dracevac barracks (with a price tag of 138 million kuna) which was handed over to the City of Split for the construction of the Technology Park and Traffic Centre, and among other things, land worth 49 million kuna on which Novalja will build the ZaglavaProzor business zone, as well as donated land and eight office buildings which were given to the municipality of Marija Bistrica for the construction of an entrepreneurial zone.

The report also looks into unplanned leasing for the use of such property, including temporary accommodation until the consequences of the earthquake are remedied, and by the end of the year, five properties were listed in this category.

From the report on the implementation of the planned reform measures and the improvement of the Ministry of State Property's management system, one of the novelties that has just been mentioned is the establishment of the Register of Inactive Assets of State-Owned Enterprises.

All that has been stated is that a report has been put together with recommendations for the identification of non-operating assets in strategic and majority-owned companies, but without many details, while the new annual state property management plan for 2021, which recently passed public discussion, brings with it another novelty in the form of asset management - the establishment of an early warning system, which will ensure a timely response to possible instabilities in the operations of state-owned enterprises.

For more, follow our business section.

ZAGREB, January 25, 2020 - The Ministry of State Assets plans to speed up the activation of state property in 2020 to increase revenues from state assets, Minister Mario Banožić told Hina in an interview.

"We believe that this year we will accelerate the activation of state assets by amending the State Property Management Act and adopting the Unappraised Construction Land Bill, which passed first reading in Parliament last week," Banožić said.

He said that state-owned financial assets were expected to bring in HRK 870 million in revenues this year, adding that an additional 1.1 billion kuna was expected from profits made by state-owned companies and 240 million kuna from non-financial assets. He noted that last year the plan had been exceeded by more than 130 million kuna.

"We are facing the implementation of the State Property Management Strategy 2019-2025, which is based on the State Property Management Act, the Business Space Lease and Sale Act and the Unappraised Construction Land Act. After years of negligence towards state property, we finally have a legislative framework which will be used to put state assets to the best possible use socially," the minister said.

The Unappraised Construction Land Act is expected to settle property relations and ownership of unappraised construction land which has been used for more than 20 years by tourism businesses following privatisation processes, and to lay the groundwork for more efficient property management and attracting new investment.

As of this year the portfolio managed by the Restructuring and Sale Centre (CERP) includes 358 companies, in 21 of which the government's share exceeds 50%, in 332 the government's share is below 50% while in five companies the government is not engaged in business. In the last five years, this portfolio has been reduced by 491 companies; in 2019 alone 58 companies "exited" the portfolio, mostly by sale, while at the same time 29 entered the portfolio, mostly after termination of the contracts, Banožić says, adding that the government plans to sell its stakes in both groups of companies.

By no later than April this year, the Ministry will issue a public call for the sale of shares or stakes in the remaining 30 companies in which the government has a minority stake of up to 25%.

"In the first two public calls in 2019, we sold government stakes in 60 companies. In the first call, about 2.6 million kuna worth of shares and stakes were sold in ten companies, while in the second call 234,600 kuna worth were sold in eight companies," Banožić said.

More news about the State Assets Ministry can be found in the Politics section.

As Novac writes on the 24th of August, 2019, the Croatian Ministry of State Property has closed a tender for the purchase of eight properties owned by the Republic of Croatia in the territory of Osijek. Only two were sold, and no bids were received for the remaining six at all.

As expected, the greatest interest was expressed for the apartment in Bisevska 17, measuring 33.11 square metres with an associated 3.5 square metre log cabin, in an energy-renovated building, whose starting price was only 78,000 kuna.

Three bids came in for the purchase of that particular apartment, and in the end it was sold to Bagatel, for only 81,235 kuna. In addition to the new owner's new property, he got a flat in the city centre, on Strossmayer's Street 4, for which two bids were submitted, and which was sold for only one kuna more than the starting price - for exactly 108,001 kuna. Regardless of its excellent location, it is a dirty backyard apartment on the ground floor of a building that requires a lot of investment to become conditional at all, writes Glas Slavonije.

Five apartments remain owned by the Croatian state from this tender, and in turn, they're all at somewhat attractive addresses: Ružina 48, Pejačevićeva 29, Divaltova 112, European avenue (Europska avenija) 3 and Reisner 86. While cheap, at first glance they do not give the impression of being a desirable space, neither for life nor for possible investments.

It should be noted that eight formerly stated owned properties were sold in Zagreb as part of a tender seeking the buyers of 25 properties across the country by the Croatian Ministry of State Property. Thus, eight pieces of real estate were sold, three in Velika Gorica and Rijeka, and one in Novi Vinodolski, Zaprešić and Lepoglava, and with much better success.

For example, four apartments were sold in Zagreb and all three were offered in Velika Gorica. Which is not strange. Namely, with the exception of one apartment in Zagreb, which can be classified in the same category as those unsold in Osijek, the others offered for sale are by far a higher category.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more.

ZAGREB, July 28, 2019 - Intensifying cooperation with local and regional government units and updating records of state-owned real estate are some of the priorities of the newly-appointed Minister of State Assets, Mario Banožić.

"One of the first steps will be to intensify cooperation with local and regional government units, primarily because we have over 7,500 requests from them. By dealing with these requests, we will help counties, towns and municipalities in their investment cycles and activities," Banožić told Hina in an interview.

He said he expected assistance from local government units in registering state-owned real estate in their areas.

"In a considerable number of cases data from the Ministry's internal records do not match facts on the ground, which is why we are correcting and upgrading the register on an ongoing basis. Our aim is to resolve property-related issues in local government units, and the prerequisite for it is accurate real estate records," the new minister said.

He said that the action plan accompanying the letter of intent to adopt the euro provided for a tender or a similar procedure to reduce the state's stake in companies in which its stake is less than 25 percent.

Asked if he would continue the policy of his predecessor, Goran Marić, and if there would be any novelties in his work, Banožić said that a lot had been done in the last three years since the Ministry was established, citing the creation of the legal framework, including the State Property Management Act, the Commercial Premises Lease and Sale Act and the Unappraised Building Land Bill, which has been put to public consultation and will be on the government agenda late in September.

"Conditions have been created for the activation and revival of state assets. A lot of work lies ahead of me and my associates. We will do everything to put all state assets to use and thus contribute to the state budget," Banožić said.

Asked which state assets had the greatest prospects, he cited unappraised tourism land, former military properties, apartments, commercial premises and garages.

More news about the Ministry of State Assets can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 18, 2019 - Ivan Malenica who has been nominated to replace Lovro Kuščević at the helm of the pulic administration ministry, on Thursday said that he would continue implementing projects of the digitisation of public administration and merger of state administration offices with county governments.

Ahead of meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Malenica told the press that his predecessor Kuščević had managed to complete some activities and that he will continue the job until the end of this term.

"I think that it will be possible to finish all that in the next year, so that we demystify public administration in Croatia and restore citizens' trust," Malenica said.

Asked whether he would scale down the powers of the Conflict of Interest Commission, Malenica said that he will see. "There is bill on the matter and we will see what they refer to."

He underscores that he has a vision of what public administration should look like and that it is meant to be at the service of citizens who can be satisfied with civil servants, with their efficiency and performance.

Commenting on the Constitutional Court decision that the rights of the ethnic Serb minority in Vukovar should be improved, he said that that is a Constitutional Court decision and as such it needs to be respected. He announced that he would discuss that matter with the Vukovar authorities.

Malenica said that he accepted the ministerial position because it was challenge in his career and that he can also do something for Croatia in the area of public administration. He dealt with this area of work during his work as a researcher and believes that that can be applied to public administration.

"I will see just how different practical work is compared to research when I step into office but I think that there should not be any problems," said Malenica.

The candidate for the new State Assets Minister, Mario Banožić, said on Thursday that the state should keep control over the companies that make it competitive.

I cannot now say whether the state should have five or six strategic companies and whether others should be on the market. I have to get an insight, however, I believe that the state should have control over those companies that make the state competitive, Banožić told reporters while coming to Government House for talks with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković who yesterday nominated him for the new state assets minister after Goran Marić resigned this past Monday over media reports on his involvement in murky real estate deals.

Banožić praised Marić for having made a great step forward in state property management, notably in cases where ownership was unclear and in the registration of state assets.

Addressing the press ahead of a meeting in Government House with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Labour and Pension System Minister nominee, Josip Aladrović, on Thursday said that he would invite social partners, unions and employers, to a social dialogue and to revive the Economic-Social Council (GSV).

"I would like to first mention that we will call social partners to a dialogue and to resume activities within the GSV," Aladrović said, adding that he considers that most of the matters tended to in the department of labour and pension system under outgoing minister Marko Pavić were handled well.

Aladrović did not wish to comment on the union initiative to call a referendum against the proposed pension reform after the unions collected more than 700,000 signatures.

"Considering the number of signatures and all the work done prior to that, I would say that that was the democratic will of the people. In future we will attempt to anticipate and launch social dialogue," he said.

He believes that it is necessary to allow the government and the public administration ministry to do their job and to see if there is a sufficient number of votes for a referendum and the Constitutional Court needs to determine whether the referendum question is in accordance with the Constitution.

"I would not like to interpret something that the Constitutional Court will interpret considering that we achieved what we wanted with the pension reform and that is long term sustainability of the pension system and adequate pensions."

Aladrović also said that the Conflict of Interest Commission had launched proceedings against him due to a "minor oversight" and that he will accept any decision the commission makes. He apparently did not enter a car he possesses into his declaration of assets.

He said that he joined the HDZ when he was 16 or 17 and thanked Prime MInister Plenković for showing his confidence and giving him the honour to be a minister.

"I am certain that I will justify that trust and that I will do my job responsibly and that the results of the Ministry of Labour and Pension System will be visible in a very short time," he said.

More politics news can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, July 16, 2019 - The resignation tendered by State Assets Minister Goran Maric ensued after a few days ago Marić had held talks with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on that step and it is not a surprise, the government's public relations office says in a press release issued on Monday afternoon.

The government says that on Monday morning Marić sent his letter of resignation to PM Plenković and afterwards informed the public about that move.

Marić announced his resignation on Monday in the town of Novi Vinodolski at a contract-signing ceremony saying this was the last contract on donating state properties he would sign.

"I worked under terrible pressure; I became a target. I cannot accept the unprecedented attack on myself and my family," he told surprised reporters in that coastal town.

In his written resignation to the premier, Marić said the State Assets Ministry had never worked in calm circumstances. "I worked under almost programmed pressure and in circumstances in which doubts were encouraged and tacitly approved as to the organisational foundation of the Ministry and the introduction of the necessary regulation of the status of state assets."

Marić said it was inconceivable and unacceptable that "the media's orchestration and creation of a lynching atmosphere takes priority over a calm and sensible insight into the value, achievements and effects of state assets" in Croatia's politics, economy and society.

Marić said it was incomprehensible that the targeted media pressure made serious work undertaken to activate state property that had been abandoned or seized for decades unimportant.

He added that he "cannot accept and endure the unprecedented media and public attack on the dignity, peace and integrity of my family."

The media suspect Marić over the purchases and sales of flats and the renovation of a part of the Franciscan monastery in Zagreb. He came under preliminary investigation by the USKOK anti-corruption office after the Index portal revealed how he acquired a flat in downtown Zagreb.

Croatian Prime Minister's chief of staff, Zvonimir Frka-Petešić, said on Monday afternoon that during the process of reshuffling his cabinet, the premier would decide whether or not to abolish the ministry of state assets, and the public would be informed in a timely fashion upon the conclusion of consultations.

Addressing the press outside Government House, during a round of consultations, Frka- Petešić reiterated that PM Plenković had known that Goran Marić would today step down as State Assets Minister.

The cabinet's chief-of-staff recalled the course of the previous events. He said that in the morning Marić had sent his letter of resignation to the premier and afterwards informed the public about his decision to step down.

Asked by the press whether the premier had asked Marić to leave the government, Frka- Petešić said that the resignation was a result of the talks between Plenković and Marić a few days before. However, Frka- Petešić could not specify the exact date of those talks.

Živi Zid member of parliament Damjan Vucelić told a news conference in Zagreb on Monday that the only solutions for the "crimes that happen" is holding an early parliamentary election.

As for the resignation of State Assets Minister Goran Marić, Vucelić said that it "is scandalous and unacceptable that the minister in charge of managing state assets makes use of the state to accumulate his wealth".

This opposition party also criticises Marić's decision to reactivate his term as a member of parliament.

Thus, the Sabor turns into "a centre for those Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) ministers who are no longer of any use".

More news about Marić’s resignation can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 15, 2019 - State Assets Minister Goran Marić tendered his irrevocable resignation on Monday, saying he was doing so "given the circumstances and the atmosphere of grave media defamation of the status and the obstruction of the work and activity of the State Assets Ministry" and himself as minister.

Marić resigned in the coastal town of Novi Vinodolski after signing a contract on the gifting of state properties, saying this was the last contract he would sign.

"I worked under terrible pressure, I became a target. I cannot accept the unprecedented attack on myself and my family," he told surprised reporters.

In his written resignation to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Marić said the State Assets Ministry had never worked in calm circumstances. "I worked under almost programmed pressure and in circumstances in which doubts were encouraged and tacitly approved as to the organisational foundation of the Ministry and the introduction of the necessary regulation of the status of state assets."

Marić said it was inconceivable and unacceptable that "the media's orchestration and creation of a lynching atmosphere takes priority over a calm and sensible insight into the value, achievements and effects of state assets" in Croatia's politics, economy and society.

Marić said it was incomprehensible that the targeted media pressure made serious work undertaken to activate state property that had been abandoned or seized for decades unimportant.

He added that he "cannot accept and endure the unprecedented media and public attack on the dignity, peace and integrity of my family."

The media suspect Marić over the purchases and sales of flats and the renovation of a part of the Franciscan monastery in Zagreb. He came under preliminary investigation by the USKOK anti-corruption office after the Index portal revealed how he acquired a flat in downtown Zagreb.

 Following the decision by Goran Marić to step down as State Assets Minister, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Monday said that the best and fairest way to reshuffle the current cabinet of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković will be snap elections.

"The current government does not reflect the will of voters and therefore citizens are losing faith in politics and are departing from Croatia every day," SDP Secretary-General Nikša Vukas said.

Instead of having one by one minister burdened by scandals leaving the government, the best and fairest way to reshuffle the government will be through new elections, he added.

The political secretary of the opposition MOST party said on Monday the resignation of State Assets Minister Goran Marić had been extorted and that "the public again have not got answers to questions asked by the media about possible corruption."

"Stepping down is not the point, it's a necessity. It's necessary to render accounts to the public regarding accusations of possible corruption," Nikola Grmoja told reporters on his party's behalf.

He said Marić and Lovro Kuščević, who resigned as public administration minister last Monday, "are returning to parliament after the prime minister evidently renounced them. Now they must prove their loyalty to the party and to the prime minister, already during the vote on their successors."

Grmoja said the return of Marić and Kuščević to parliament would only reinforce the impression that the parliamentary majority was built on interests and blackmail.

More news about the state assets minister can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 12, 2019 - The State Assets Ministry on Friday denied claims made in an article headlined "Goran Marić's conflict of interest? Enabling former boss in whose apartment his son lives to purchase attractive land," in the Jutarnji List daily, claiming that someone is trying to impute conflict of interest on Minister Goran Marić with regard to the dissolution of co-ownership of state land.

The Jutarnji List claims that in May, Marić decided to sell over 13,000 square metres of land to companies related to Željko Udovičić, the owner of the company that owns the building in which Minster Marić's son is currently living. The land is located in Brsečine near Dubrovnik in a construction zone on the seashore and earmarked for a tourism resort and is valued at HRK 5.092 million.

The land accounts for just of 19% that Udovičić's company required, to be in a position to be registered as the sole owners of the land, which until then had been co-owned with the state, the daily said.

The state agreed to be registered as the sole owner of unattractive land above the road while the rest of the land was sold to Udovičić's companies, the article noted.

The State Assets Ministry claimed that the article was trying to impute conflict of interest onto Marić regarding the dissolution of co-ownership.

"The dispute over the right of ownership of land between the Republic of Croatia and Sikirica d.o.o. and Valeta d.o.o. (companies owned by Udovičić) has been ongoing for 10 years. As the state lost one of three suits, the county prosecution settled with the said companies for land that was defined as being co-owned in such a way that, of two plots, one went to the state with an area of approximately 0.7 hectares and the other, went to the said companies with an area of 6.8 hectares," the ministry said in a press release.

The Office of the County State Prosecutor referred the companies to the State Assets Ministry for the purpose of dissolving the co-ownership and that was processed in regular procedure as is the case with hundreds of similar cases of dissolution and in the most transparent way possible, the press release added.

"The dissolution finally resolved any further damage being caused to Croatia and enabled an income into the state budget in the amount of 5.092 million kuna," the ministry underscored, adding that Minister Marić never in any way influenced that decision.

The ministry added that the owners of the Valeta d.o.o. and Sikirica d.o.o. are not the owners of the companies with which Marić's son signed a lease agreement for the apartment he is living in.

More news about the state assets minister can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 6, 2019 - State Assets Minister Goran Marić said on Friday, with regard to his role in the renovation of a church in a Zagreb parish, that except for satisfaction with helping realise a noble idea, he did not obtain any gain nor did he enable anyone else to obtain any gain and did not do anything that would be contrary to the highest ethical standards.

The State Assets Minister issued a press release saying that it was true that at the time when the renovation of the church, located in the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes in Zagreb, was discussed, he was an office-holder and member of parliament but that at the meeting on the church's renovation he acted "exclusively as a parishioner."

"The meeting discussed designs for the renovation of the church and I did not directly participate in the discussions," Marić says, stressing that he also never attended talks on the financing of the renovation work, except giving symbolic financial contributions on a number of occasions, as did many other parishioners.

"It is true that I took part in talks with the then head of the Franciscan order regarding designs for the renovation of a monastery so that it could be used for the accommodation of students whose financial standing was poor. I considered that idea as something of great human and social value. I responded to it and was willing to personally help implement it," the minister claims.

He says that the Franciscan order owned a dilapidated apartment in downtown Zagreb that could not be sold due to the situation on the market at the time and that it was true that "the Scientia d.o.o. company bought the apartment and paid for it in full, which enabled the renovation."

"I stress that I participated financially in this project as well, in line with my finances. I especially emphasise that apart from human satisfaction at being able to help implement a noble idea, I did not obtain any gain nor did I make it possible for anyone else. Also, as an office-holder, I did not do anything that would go against the highest ethical standards," Maric says in the statement.

The news portal Index has reported that in March 2008, a meeting was held at which the renovation of the Franciscan Monastery of Our Lady of Lourdes was discussed and which was attended by the then prime minister Ivo Sanader, government ministers Marina Dropulić, Dragan Primorac and Božo Biškupić, and Mladen Barišić, a secretary at the Finance Ministry.

The meeting, held at the monastery, was also attended by Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić, while the Franciscan order was represented by its head, Friar Željko Tolić, the head of the Franciscan monastery, Friar Frano Doljanik, and Goran Marić, at the time a member of parliament.

Index, which has published a number of articles analysing this case, cited Tolić as confirming that "Marić enabled the renovation of nine apartments and a kitchen for the Franciscan dormitory in Zagreb" and that the Franciscan order sold Marić its apartment in Zagreb's Zvonimirova Street in return.

"An agreement was reached and a contract signed with Mr Marić under which the order transferred a dilapidated and unlivable apartment in Zvonimirova Street to Marić in exchange for a financial compensation while he renovated nine apartments and a kitchen for humanitarian purposes for the order, to be used by the poor, namely destitute civilian students," the news portal quoted Tolić as saying.

The Marić family owned a company, called Scientia, specialising in professional, scientific and technical services, which was run by Marić's wife Marijana and which in 2011 reported a revenue of 50,000 kuna and a loss of 84,000 kuna.

According to Index, under the contract, Scientia bought the 101-square-metre apartment in Zvonimirova Street for 930,000 kuna (roughly 125,600 euros).

"The sales contract for the apartment, even though it was signed in mid-2011, went into force a year later, in 2012. Already in 2013, Scientia and its apartment in Zvonimirova Street were taken over by Marić's friend, businessman Zvonko Šarić. Even though Scientia had an apartment worth at least one million kuna and an additional 867,000 kuna in its account, the Marić couple transferred it to Šarić without any compensation. They literally gave it away," the portal says.

Four months later, Šarić sold the apartment in Zvonimirova Street for one million kuna to Šted Invest, a company where Marić was a director in the period from 2005 to 2008, when he withdrew because he entered the parliament as a deputy of the HDZ party, Index says.

It stresses that Marić's son Ante recently moved into a newly-built, 136-square-metre apartment in Zagreb's Veslačka Street, worth around 2.5 million kuna. The owner of that apartment, according to land books, is Veslačka Nekretnine, the daughter company of Šted Invest.

In an earlier comment on this, Minister Marić said that his son was a tenant in that apartment and that there was no conflict of interest in that case.

More news about the State Assets Minister can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 1, 2019 - State Assets Minister Goran Marić on Monday denied media allegations according to which his son had moved into a newly built Zagreb apartment worth almost 2.5 million kuna under suspicious circumstances, saying that his son was a tenant and that there was no conflict of interest in the case.

Asked why he had transferred his family business to his friend Zvonko Šarić even though the business had 800,000 kuna in its account and an apartment valued at one million kuna, Marić said that the family business had not existed for more than ten years and that it had been owned by his wife and son.

"They transferred their business interests in accordance with the law, the business wasn't given away, the stakes were transferred and that was their right and their business relationship," Marić said, adding that they did it so that he could enter politics without any burden.

He added that he had never been in conflict of interest nor used his political role to gain any benefit or favour anyone.

The Index news portal on Monday released an article stating that the way in which the minister's son, Ante Marić, recently moved into a new apartment in Zagreb valued at almost 2.5 million kuna, opened a number of questions.

The portal claims that Ante Marić lives in an apartment owned by the Veslačka Nekretnine real estate company, the daughter company of Šted Invest where Goran Marić was the director in the period from 2005 to 2008, when he left to enter the parliament as a deputy of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

In a comment on alleged property-related irregularities concerning Minister Marić and Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević, the country's state chief inspector, Andrija Mikulić, said that those cases were not in the remit of the state inspectorate.

More news about the state assets minister can be found in the Politics section.