ZAGREB, June 30, 2020 - Non-governmental organisations Green Action and BIOM held a performance outside the Energy and Environment Ministry on Tuesday saying that Minister Tomislav Coric should hold to account for influence-peddling in the Krs-Padjen wind farm scandal.

"Minister Coric's political responsibility in the Krs-Padjen scandal is unquestionable and there are strong indications of his criminal responsibility for evidently unreasonable spending of public funds," the NGOs said.

They warned of multiple damages done as a consequence of Coric's political decisions. They claimed that the minister "in cahoots with the accused investors, has squandered HRK 1.2 billion of taxpayers' money, thus destroying our renewable future in the form of decentralised, local systems of renewable energy sources."

"Without Coric's decision, which contradicts expert opinion, the accused investors would not have been able to continue the project based on the old system of tariffs," Enes Cerimagic (Green Action) said. He claimed that HRK 1.2 billion in incentives more would have to be paid than the investor would have been entitled to under the new tariff system.

"Had Minister Coric abided by the law and asked for an assessment of the impact on the ecological network, the investor's approval to buy electricity at higher subsidised prices would have expired and the project would have been subject to the new tariff," Cerimagic said, adding that Coric thus caused multiple damages to the state, environment, nature and the budget.

Cerimagic said that the HRK 1.2 billion that has been squandered could have been sufficient for solar systems to supply 30,000 households."

ZAGREB, June 4, 2020 - Condemning the wind park scandal Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday said that his cabinet was fully committed to the fight against corruption and called on the judicial institutions to ascertain what happened and who was responsible for breaking through surveillance measures.

"On behalf of the entire government, I want to say that the government is entirely committed to the fight against corruption, while proof of the independent work of the police and state prosecutor's office can, in fact, be seen in the process that unfolded last week, at least when it comes to the public. There is no dilemma that we wish to support the fight against corruption and encourage the relevant bodies to do their job in accordance with the law and without anyone meddling in their work," Plenkovic said at the start of a cabinet meeting.

As some of the actors in this scandal were office-holders appointed by this government - a state secretary and some other officials and an assistant minister, that is proof that the State Prosecutor's Office (DORH) and police are doing their job without any influence, the premier said.

"We consider that conduct to be unacceptable and that is why we dismissed the said officials and took measures that are very clear and have moved this entire episode away from collective responsibility from all of us in government. We in no way want to be implicated in someone's individual acts that harm the government's reputation," he said.

Plenkovic underscored that it is in the interest of strengthening trust in judicial institutions to determine those responsible for surveillance measures being cracked in the wind farm scandal.

"Seeing that measures were allegedly cracked among those stakeholders involved and they may have included the police and DORH, I think that it is in the interest of strengthening trust in judicial institutions to determine how that is possible and who is responsible for surveillance measures being cracked and that all these procedures have an epilogue within a reasonable time," he added.

"I say this very precisely without any idea of possibly pressuring any of these bodies but it is also just as important to determine who is responsible because that is important for trust in DORH's activities, the police, and the court functioning. That is what I expect from all stakeholders in reference to legal security," underscored Plenkovic.

ZAGREB, June 3, 2020 - Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Coric on Tuesday commented on the wind park scandal, saying that after consultations with the Chief State Prosecutor's Office (DORH), it was decided to annul a decision on a new acceptability estimate for the Krs-Padjene wind park, thereby unblocking the project.

In May and June 2017, before I took the minister's office, consultations began with DORH on the matter, after which we embarked on annulling the decision from March in order to protect Croatia's interest and defend ourselves from potential lawsuits, Coric told reporters in Karlovac.

A potential lawsuit could have been filed by the investor to sue Croatia for damages that could have been incurred by the failure to realise the project, he said.

Staff from the ministry's legal and environmental protection departments consulted the deputy chief state prosecutor in July before a commission was established and the decision was annulled, Coric said, adding that in the meantime he exchanged e-mails with the then chief state prosecutor Dinko Cvitan and his deputies.

Asked why his predecessor Slaven Dobrovic did not do that, Coric said the reason was that during his 18 months in office, Dobrovic "did nothing about environmental protection and energy."

He added that Dobrovic's decision of March was subject to a lawsuit. He said the goal of the commission established in July 2017 was to protect Croatia's long term interests in this case.

Asked if it was customary for the executive authority to consult DORH, Coric said that in this case, it was necessary.

Given that the direction could have been problematic for Croatia, we contacted DORH. If we hadn't, I doubt I would have made such a decision, he added.

Coric went on to say that he met with the investor in the Krs-Padjene wind park, Milenko Basic, several times at the ministry in the company of his lawyers and that Basic informed him about his intentions.

I did not see that as pressure because, as the investor, he only presented his legal positions, Coric said, adding that he never discussed the project with Josipa Rimac, a former state secretary at the Public Administration Ministry arrested last week as part of a probe into the wind park project on suspicion of corruption.

Speaking of the Krs-Padjene wind park project, he said: "It's been completed, I don't know if entirely. I suppose incentives have started too." He added that it was private investment.

ZAGREB, June 2, 2020 - The State Prosecutor's Office (DORH) and the USKOK anti-corruption office are not the sources of information from the investigation in the wind park case that has been published in the media, USKOK said on Tuesday, adding that the police were ordered to investigate the leaks.

DORH and USKOK are not the sources of the information published in the media because the publication of any information from the investigation undermines breakthroughs in the case, which is why the police were ordered today to investigate, USKOK said. 

In this case, the decision to conduct an investigation was made on May 30 and, in line with the Criminal Procedure Act, it was forwarded to all the accused and their lawyers, at least 29 persons, USKOK said, adding that all the transcripts that had been published were cited in the decision on the investigation.

A comparison of what has been published and the transcripts cited in the decision shows that the published transcripts have been partly misinterpreted, USKOK added.

The fact that only transcripts of conversations cited in the decision on the investigation have been published, thereby being available to a large number of persons, confirms that USKOK is not the source of the information that has been published, USKOK said.

It recalled that in line with the Criminal Procedure Act, after a decision to conduct an investigation is made, all accused and their lawyers are entitled to see the case file and copy it.

Although under the Criminal Procedure Act and investigation is not secret but not public either, DORH and USKOK believe that the publication of information gathered during an investigation undermines breakthroughs in the case, which is why it is highly important to establish who leaked it in this case, USKOK said.

Claims that DORH and USKOK are leaking information discredit the efforts and work of DORH and incite distrust in its work, USKOK said.