While Finance Minister Marić claims he did not see anything suspicious while he worked at Agrokor, his predecessor has somewhat different recollections.
Managers who used to work for Agrokor almost never talk about Agrokor and its owner Ivica Todorić. That is why the testimony of one of the former Agrokor directors, Čedo Žic, is so interesting. His interview last week was broadcast today by N1 television, reports Index.hr on May 9, 2017.
Čedo Žic was Agrokor’s vice president for strategy and capital markets in the 1990s, the position which was later occupied by Zdravko Marić, the current Finance Minister, whose official title was executive director, but it was essentially the same job. Žic left the company a long time ago, and tofay, he is involved in court proceedings against it.
He explained that the company had two groups of financial reports: one for the auditors and the state, and another for investors. Žic was not exposed to direct pressure, but he described that there was a pressure to achieve growth: in order to obtain loans necessary for growth, financial figures were made to look better before being presented to credit institutions.
His testimony shows that Agrokor has been involved in creative accounting for decades. Allegations about inaccuracies in financial statements have already been expressed by rating agencies and Russian bankers who have given loans to Agrokor.
Žic says that Marić had to know the real situation in the company. “If he did not, then he was a dangerous person to lead the strategy department. However, I think he is a bright person, so he must have known. But, if he knew about it and is keeping silent now, then there was the conspiracy we are talking about, which means that the government is contaminated. I do not see why we would protect a contaminated segment of the government and risk the stability of the state,” he said.
These statements are incriminating with regards to the Finance Minister and his excuses like “I was not responsible for the financial reports” and “I had no reason to question the reports.” Because, how would it be possible that Žic knew about this, and that his successor Marić did not? What kind of a director would not know that? What kind of a minister proudly says that he did not know anything?
Žic also mentioned a cancelled interview for Jutarnji List, once again confirming that Agrokor owner Ivica Todorić was the real editor of a large part of the media. After a meeting with journalist Davor Butković, Žic received a phone call from Agrokor saying that he must not give the interview, reminding him of the terms of his contract. Surprised, he called Butković and asked how Agrokor knew that he was supposed to give an interview. Butković told him: “Do you know what kind of connections Todorić has in the police?” Žic says he was scared so they both decided “not to go into details.” But, a more likely explanation is that someone from the media had told Agrokor they were working on the story.
Interestingly, the interview with N1 was recorded last week, when its effect would be much greater. In a footnote, N1 admits that the interview was made before the vote on the motion of no confidence against Minister Marić last week. The delay in broadcast is justified by fact checking, especially with regards to possible conflicts of interest, because Žic is currently working as a consultant. However, an impression remains that N1 was being careful and that this testimony about false financial reports could have affected parliamentary debate and the final destiny of the Finance Minister.
