SDP has filed the official proposal.
On Friday, SDP submitted to the parliamentary procedure the proposal to establish a committee of enquiry to determine the facts which have led to the crisis in the Agrokor group. HDZ has said that they have no problems with any possible committee of enquiry, including the one for Agrokor.
“Today we have submitted a proposal for the establishment of a committee of enquiry to determine the facts about the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the Agrokor group, its current market position, its business problems, the role of market regulators in relation to Agrokor’s business activities, and circumstances which have led to government’s activities regarding the group,” said SDP president Davor Bernardić. He is convinced that it is necessary to determine the circumstances over the past 27 years which have led to today’s situation in Agrokor.
At this point, according to the SDP president, Deputy Prime Minister Martina Dalić, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić, and even Prime Minister Andrej Plenković do not enjoy the public confidence. “It is obvious that the government’s commissioner in Agrokor is there just to calm the situation down and postpone the solution until after the local elections in May. He is there to buy some time,” said Bernardić.
“We want to see how the problem was created,” said his party colleague Gordan Maras, adding that they expected to have the full support of HDZ’s coalition partner MOST, particularly given that their party president, Božo Petrov, has filed a criminal complaint against Agrokor owner Ivica Todorić.
The proposal states that the committee of enquiry should determine whether auditing companies carried out audits of Agrokor and the companies it owns in accordance with the law and international auditing standards. “It is necessary to ascertain whether Agrokor’s annual reports were credible and in line with standards or whether, by concealing the data, they gave the wrong impression about Agrokor’s business operations,” according to the proposed decision.
When it comes to Finance Minister Zdravko Marić, Maras said that the Commission for Conflict of Interest Prevention had enough elements to see whether there was a conflict of interest in the fact that the minister received a preferential loan from the Croatian Postal Bank.
Branko Bačić, president of the HDZ Parliamentary Group, said that his party had no problems with any committee of inquiry, including the one on Agrokor. “We are waiting for the specific proposal. We are interested in the deadlines, what its duties would be,” said Bačić to journalists. The HDZ Parliamentary Group has absolutely no reason not to discuss all aspects of the crisis which is happening in Agrokor, said Bačić.
