If I Entered Parliament, I Would Kill Myself

Head of the Zagreb Holding company speaks of problems and conflicts with Milan Bandic, why he did not stay with Ivica Racan…

Holding company was founded because of rationalisation of business and cutting down expenses. How do you comment that only a few months after its foundation, communal expenses increased?

-The purpose of the entire Holding project is a form of rationalisation, not only of business but this includes a line of effects. One of them is the concentration of all business activities and a lot more powerful presence on the market which comes on its own. This means we are a much more serious partner with the banks and that none of the banks will refuse us loans due to the company`s complexity and structure of business accounts. One of the first rationalisations is the supply of oil where we have saved up around 12, 13 million kuna.

And where is improvement for citizens in this story?

-It is not true that this has no effects on the citizens. A slight rise in prices of public utilities occurred at the very beginning of the Holding company’s foundation, but the rise cannot be linked with the establishment of the company. For example, Cistoca (Utility services company for waste management and cleanliness) recorded a highest rise in prices, but prices of utility services n Cistoca did not rise for entire seven years although the price of petrol, for instance, doubled. What follows is that the more profit we realise and save up, the need for increasing prices will be lesser. The citizens will have benefits as well when it comes to paying bills because they will all be on the same transfer note soon.

So there was no way of avoiding utility services increasing in prices?

-Companies were in a quote poor state. But, what we collect from the citizen, we return it through improvement of standards or implementation of contents.

Some people in the city have no water. Is this not shameful?

It is not true that do not have water in the city, this is a smaller part. Pipelines were constructed somewhere and citizens do not wish to connect themselves, we cannot affect that. In the marginal parts of the city, citizens do not have a possibility to connect to this infrastructure. Larger investments are at stake here because households are scattered so a larger intervention is necessary for the pipelines to be brought. Most of these wild constructions occurred during the 1990`s when refugees from Croatia or other parts of former Yugoslavia built houses in such a manner, and the problem arises from that period. This is an issue which the city wants to solve urgently. Otherwise, more than 90 percent of households in Zagreb are connected to the water-supply.

How do you explain an increase in prices in one hand, and giving a million euro to Dinamo football club on the other?

-Dinamo is a Zagreb-based club in which many people believe. Investing in Dinamo means investing in top sports and this has its social value and price. This is a useful investment because it takes the youth from the streets or drugs, takes needles from their arms and turns them to a healthy lifestyle. This is a normal occurrence everywhere in the world to invest into top sports. It is invested in Split, Madrid, Paris. Sport, on its own, cannot be commercialised nor function financially. I hope the citizens will understand that investing in Dinamo is something they loved as children or love now as adults. I am personally not interested in football. We are not investing in Dinamo alone, but in Cibona as well, and other sports too.

But not in such amounts?

-Because football is an expensive sport.

Therefore you claim that it is a usual practice in the world for utility services to finance football clubs?

-Yes, maybe not in such a form, but cities like Madrid invest money in the promotion of their top clubs and this is a fact whether somebody likes it or not. Only, Real Madrid receives 10 million euro because it is more larger than Zagreb, and we give a million. This is simply the way it is, if someone will accept it as a fact or not is their choice.

You are considered to be the closes associate of Mayor Milan Bandic. How did you meet?

-We are not really that close. He is the closest with heads of the city Departments, therefore with me as well. I can say that I have a very successful co-operation with Mr. Bandic from before he became mayor, and even now when he is mayor. I hope he looks at it the same way. We used to mingle. We met a long time ago in Zagreb. He was working in the Pescenica municipality, and I in the Trnje municipality. We used to work in headquarters in the 90`s. I was working in Maksimir, supplying them with various items – Motorola connections systems, from gloves to everything else, through my acquaintances in America. We were in the same party, but never meet co-operated when it came to business.

Do you take care of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) finances?

-Not formally.

You were a private entrepreneur. Do you or someone in your family own a business company today?

-No, I have no private business. There is a company which my son owns, but it is out of business. Seven years ago I froze all businesses because I expected problems because of it. So there is no company which might be linked with me in the sense of family ties.

How old is your son?

-My son is 25, he is still studying, but he potters, he is still learning business.

This means he was 18 when you endowed him with a company?

-Yes, but there is no business and this is a frozen story. As far as close family goes, there are no companies under our ownership, but as broader family goes, how can I ban my cousin in Dubrovnik from owning a company. But when I worked, I made a lot of business with the police, so as I told a minister once, all contracts can be found in the Ministry of the Interior, so I will not have any problems.

It is well-known that Bandic cannot stand criticism well. Do you dare to criticise him?

-I believe it is my right not to agree with someone and I will never give up this right to opinion, under any circumstances. I clearly point out my position and disagreement with Bandic in some issues.

Who has the final say?

-When it comes to business matters, usually I do, and when it comes to political issues, he does. I think I understand business better than he does and allow that he understands politics more than I do. Both my and his paths in life prove this thesis. I do not wish to deal with politics much. What I am interested in life is operative business, and not selling fog.

You hired Vlasta Pavic and Stipe Tojcic. Why?

Yes, I will say I did because this was to my insistence, and the reason for that is my deep trust that Tojcic, who is one of the founders of this system we have today and does it very successfully. I thought it would be necessary to bring in capable people who understand how the city functions. It is a fact that Tojcic was deputy mayor for four years. I am not interested in politics when it comes to work, which I can prove with my life. Bandic did not wish to hear of Stipe Tojcic at that time.

This means Bandic is selling fog?

-I was not thinking of him. I spoke in the sense politicians sell fog.

You are president of the Holding company and member of the city administration. Is this too many functions for you?

-Yes, I wish I was not a member of the city government, this is my desire.

What did you do about it?

-I became member of the city administration before, and based on that, i.e. my function, I became president of the Holding  Management. I asked the mayor to dismiss me from these duties on several occasions.

Bandic is the president and the only member of the Holding Assembly?

-He is the Assembly, and not the only member. But this is usual. Look at who is the assembly of HEP (Croatian Electric Power), and he is by far greater than Zagreb and has a ministers` assembly. This is fine, I have more trouble with the former situation when members of political parties were members of company assemblies and received fees of 200 kuna per sitting.

And have you ever heard of the saying every power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely?

-Indeed,  many times.

Could this be applied in your case?

-I do not know, this is for others to judge. I think, but this is my subjective opinion, that the fact I am here, has not significantly changed me, at least not character wise.

And as far as Bandic goes?

-I think that Bandic has, more than all of his political colleagues, kept his true face. Argument proving this is found in the fact that he is most available of all politicians in the city of Zagreb. Any peasant woman or granny can pull him by his sleeve in the street and he will talk to her.

Why do they call you Kikas?

-I do not know, journalists called me this.

Did it not come from SDP, from your colleagues?

-I do not know, I think journalists created this nick-name. I suppose re-runs of the show “Beggars and sons” was running.

You headed the Ivica Racan headquarters at the first party elections....

-I was one of the members. Precisely, this was the Trnje municipality headquarters, and Ivica Racan was in the same municipality. I was in the SDP operative headquarters which was in an election campaign at that time, and Ivica Racan was enlisted for that municipality.

How come Racan did not take him with you to the central unit, but you remained in politics on the city level?

-Well, I am quite blunt. I am not sure if this is the reason, but I did not ask to be taken up. I was then looking for a source of my existence on a business level more, so I was not even interested in that sense. Neither do I have ambitions for it, if I entered Parliament, I would kill myself. If someone is up or down, this is a relative story.