Politics

ZAGREB, 30 August, 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Butković in charge of the economic affairs, and finance and economy ministers, Marko Primorac and Davor Filipović, on Tuesday held a meeting with the Croatian members of INA's nine-member Supervisory Board. The meeting took place in Government House on Tuesday afternoon ahead of a session that the Supervisory Board is expected to hold on Wednesday after the arrest of five suspects who are believed to have been involved in the gas resale scam and thus embezzled at least HRK 848 million (approx. €113 million) from INA. The President of…

ZAGREB, 30 August, 2022 - The INA oil company on Tuesday reported that a former chairman of its supervisory board, Damir Vanđelić, never said anything at meetings of the board nor did he send any email that would have indicated that INA was losing money, as Vanđelić claimed earlier in the day. "INA does not support any attempts to score political points in reference to the investigation launched in the gas resale case, and twisting facts to one's own advantage could have a misleading effect on the public. In the six years he spent as the head of INA's Supervisory Board Mr Vanđelić never voted…

ZAGREB, 30 August, 2022 - Croatian National Bank Vice-Governor Tomislav Ćorić said on Tuesday that he had never talked with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković about an INA director, Damir Škugor, one of the five suspects in the gas trading scam. Ćorić told Hina today that INA Supervisory Board's former chair, Damir Vanđelić "is creative in presenting alternative facts" after Vanđelić said that the INA gas resale contract was not within the remit of the Supervisory Board but of the Management Board and that he notified the competent officials, including former minister Ćorić when he realised that INA was losing money. "I never…

ZAGREB, 30 August, 2022 - War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved said in Vukovar on Tuesday, at a commemoration marking the national day of remembrance for people gone missing in the country's 1991-95 Homeland War and the International Day of the Disappeared, that there was no cooperation on Serbia's part in the search for the missing. Medved said that Serbia was not submitting information on the fate of persons gone missing in the Homeland War although it was completely clear that data on the whereabouts of the missing persons' remains could be found in Serbian archives. "I therefore again call on Serbia to…

ZAGREB, 29 August, 2022 - The European Union's member-states -- Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria -- meet the criteria for the Schengen area membership and Germany will work to make it possible for them to join the border-free area, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Prague on Monday. "Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria fulfil all the technical requirements for full membership. I will work to see them become full members," he said in his speech titled "Europe is our Future", delivered at the Charles University in Prague. Scholz said that Germany would continue supporting Ukraine as long as necessary, foreign news agency reported. Commenting…

ZAGREB, 29 August, 2022 - The INA oil company said on Monday that its management and supervisory boards did not decide on the contracts that are being investigated by the USKOK anti-corruption office and that Damir Škugor was authorised to sign contracts worth up to €20 million, co-signed by his deputy. "The INA Management and Supervisory Boards did not decide on the disputed contracts that are being investigated by USKOK. Damir Škugor, who is a manager three levels below the Management Board, had the authority to sign contracts worth up to €20 million, with the co-signature of his deputy. In line…

ZAGREB, 29 August 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković told Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob on Monday that the Croatian parliament would never ratify the arbitration ruling on the border between the two countries and that the two friendly countries would "resolve the border issue eventually." On the eve of the Bled Strategic Forum, Plenković met bilaterally for the first time with the recently inaugurated Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon. The officials discussed the improvement of mutual relations, the energy situation and cooperation, joint initiatives at the level of the EU, the strengthening of economic cooperation, Croatia's assistance to…

ZAGREB, 29 August 2022 - The head of the ruling HDZ party's branch in Zagreb's Maksimir district, Stanko Gačić, said on Monday the party had launched disciplinary proceedings against its member Damir Škugor, arrested on suspicion of masterminding a scam in which the INA energy group was defrauded of more than HRK 1 billion. In an operation launched on Saturday by the USKOK anti-corruption office and the police, five persons were arrested on suspicion of wrongdoing with INA's natural gas, which was sold below the market price. Investigators believe the suspects bought gas from INA for €19.5 and sold it for…

ZAGREB, 29 August, 2022 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović has said that thanks to actions by state bodies, data were collected and bank accounts were blocked, preventing major damage to the INA company in a case of fraud exceeding one billion kuna, and that corporate procedures that failed to detect the fraud are a different matter. "I am satisfied that the police, Tax Administration, the Uskok anti-corruption office, and other competent services collected enough evidence in a long-lasting investigation to file charges and identify the perpetrators," Božinović told reporters in Obrežje after meeting with Slovenian counterpart Tatjana Bobnar. He underscored that thanks to the…

ZAGREB, 29 August, 2022 - Interior ministers Davor Božinović of Croatia and Tatjana Bobnar of Slovenia said on Monday the removal of razor-wire fences from the Croatian-Slovenian border was a symbol of the two countries' friendship and good cooperation. Slovenia started erecting the fence on the Croatian border during the 2015 migrant crisis. Early in July this year, its government adopted a decision to start removing it. At her first meeting with Božinović, Bobnar said the razor-wire fence was a disproportionate tool and that its removal was "a symbol of the friendship and good cooperation between the states." "The symbolism of removing the…