”We must be aware that as far as some things are concerned, Ivica Todorić and Agrokor were more powerful than the state”
As RTL writes on the 15th of October, 2017, the president of the Parliamentary Investigative Commission for Agrokor has been blunt about the fact that people should be well aware of Todoric’s (at least former, if no longer current) powerful position, and that in some things, he and his company were indeed more powerful than the state.
Orsat Miljenić, President of the Parliamentary Investigative Commission for Agrokor, talked about more detailed plans for the work of the commission in an interview with Novi List.
”It isn’t our job to balance the scales, but it will be crucial to confirm the connection between Ivica Todorić and politics. When it comes to a system that has been stronger, in some segments, than the state is, it is clear that this can’t be possible without a link with politics. I’d like to see, for example, from all finance ministers, (from both HDZ and SDP) that in Agrokor for ten years there was no tax control and if that is so, why did it happen.”
Todoric, who supported the establishment of this commission twice, is reportedly abroad at the moment. He will be the first witness to be called on November the 3rd, which means he should return to Croatia.
“If a Croatian citizen is facing charges for a serious criminal offense, there are very few countries in the world where [that person] will able to avoid extradition,” emphasised Orsat Miljenić for Novi List.
Given the fact that no evidence was found by state institutions to suggest there being any truth in the ex Agrokor boss’ claims on the matter, Miljenić expects Todorić to prove the alleged threats made to him and his family by Deputy PM Martina Dalić. He claims, as is written on his blog, that the threats came in the form of ”inappropriate mails” from Dalić personally, in the dead of night at the end of March this year.
Miljenić also announced an invitation to all finance ministers, including the current (and still controversial) finance minister, Zdravko Marić. Agrokor’s government appointed extraordinary commissioner, Ante Ramljak, will also have to face questions about his contact with Knighthead Funding.
Among the witnesses will be SDP’s Gordan Maras, who is also a member of the commission.
