Premier Is Behind Corruption in Road Construction

The MP says he has information from certain people in Croatian Highways that the prime minister was rigging jobs in road construction.

MP of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Ivica Pancic told a news conference today that certain people from the Croatian Roads and Croatian Highways companies had criticised Prime Minister Ivo Sanader for corruption and rigging jobs in road construction.

-I have been getting information from the Croatian Roads and Croatian Highways that Minister Bozidar Kalmeta was forced to give jobs to certain companies in road construction because Premier Ivo sanader himself stood behind them – Pancic said, adding that he expected of the prime minister to comment on the issue and instigate an investigation into corruption in road construction.

Pancic also expects the USKOK (Office for the Prevention of Corruption and Organised Crime) and the state prosecution to become involved to “put an end to this monster of corruption”.

He also claims that parents, friends, members of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) Youth and only sporadically a Homeland War soldier were employed in road construction without a job tender.

-Let Jadranka Kosor (Homeland War soldiers minister) investigate how many, of the 40 people employed in road construction, have the status of Homeland War soldier and how many were employed via job tenders – Pancic said.

The SDP’s MP also requested a probe into the computer system of highway toll control, since, as he claims, the system indicates differences of some 20 percent.

-For a million kuna that would mean a difference of 200,000 kuna – Pancic said, asking who controlled the system and who manipulated with the information.

Nobody has denied the engagement of certain companies on the Rijeka – Zagreb highway as producer without a tender, nor the surpassing of construction costs by 40 million euros on the same section, that is, from the planned 209 million euros the price jumped to 248 million euros, he said.

-Kalmeta’s driver is only an indicator of how the system partly functions – Pancic said.

He announced that he would as soon as next week name several companies behind which Premier Sanader allegedly stood, but, as he said, some others too.