Please find Croation version below
(Luxembourg, 12 June 2025) – Today, the former Croatian Minister for Regional Development and EU Funds (MRRFEU) was convicted by the County Court of Zagreb (Croatia) and sentenced to two years of imprisonment for abuse of office and authority, as well as trading in influence. This conviction follows an indictment issued by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Zagreb.
As previously reported, the former minister, the former director of Croatia’s Central Finance and Contracting Agency (SAFU), and two business owners were accused of trading in influence, and of abuse of office and authority.
In 2017, the former minister launched a public procurement procedure for an information system and took actions to ensure a privileged position for a business owner and his companies. She inflated the estimated value of the procurement and decided to conduct a negotiated procurement procedure without publishing a public invitation to tender. The business owner's companies were then invited to submit their bids, and the contract was eventually awarded to them at an unrealistically high price of €1.73 million.
In the course of its investigation, the EPPO established that the former minister and the business owners continued to take action to award the contract to their companies, despite the procedure being annulled due to a breach of the law on public procurement.
The contract was eventually concluded, and the business owners received a large sum of money, which was then transferred to their accounts or withdrawn in cash. The estimated damage to the EU budget is of at least €1 million, and the estimated damages to the state budget of the Republic of Croatia amounts to almost €300 000.
The former minister has been sentenced to two years of imprisonment.
The verdict is the result of plea bargain, as she pleaded guilty to her charges; and prior to the signing of the plea bargain, she has paid €200 000 as a partial compensation for the damage, which does not exclude the claimants’ right to claim a compensation for other damage according to the principle of joint and several liability.
The criminal proceedings against the other three accused persons – the former director of the SAFU and the two owners of the accused companies, as well as against the two companies – are still ongoing.
The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.
Hrvatska: Bivša ministrica osuđena na dvogodišnju zatvorsku kaznu zbog zlouporabe položaja i ovlasti
(Luxembourg, 12. lipnja 2025.) – Danas je Županijski sud u Zagrebu (Hrvatska) donio presudu protiv bivše ministrice regionalnoga razvoja i EU fondova (MRRFEU), te joj je izrekao kaznu zatvora u trajanju od dvije godine zbog zlouporabe položaja i ovlasti te zbog trgovanja utjecajem. Ova je presuda uslijedila nakon što je Ured europskog javnog tužitelja (EPPO) u Zagrebu podignuo optužnicu.
Kako je ranije objavljeno, bivša ministrica, bivši ravnatelj hrvatske Središnje agencije za financiranje i ugovaranje (SAFU) i dva vlasnika trgovačkih društava, zajedno s njihovim društvima, optuženi su zbog kaznenih djela zlouporabe položaja i ovlasti i trgovanja utjecajem.
Tijekom 2017. godine, bivša je ministrica pokrenula postupak javne nabave za informacijski sustav, te je poduzimala radnje kako bi poduzetniku i njegovim trgovačkim društvima osigurala povlašteni položaj. Neosnovano je povećala procijenjenu vrijednost nabave i odlučila provesti pregovarački postupak nabave bez objave javnog poziva. Potom su društva toga poduzetnika pozvana da dostave svoje ponude, te im je na kraju dodijeljen ugovor po nerealno visokoj cijeni od 1,73 milijuna eura.
Istragom je utvrđeno da su bivša ministrica i vlasnici trgovačkih društava nastavili poduzimati radnje s ciljem dodjeljivanja ugovora njihovim društvima, unatoč tome što je postupak poništen zbog kršenja Zakona o javnoj nabavi.
Ugovor je na kraju sklopljen, a vlasnici društava dobili su veliku svotu novca koja im je potom prebačena na račune ili podignuta u gotovini. Procjenjuje se da je proračun Unije oštećen za najmanje milijun eura, a državni proračun Republike Hrvatske za gotovo 300 000 eura.
Bivša ministrica osuđena je na dvije godine zatvora.
Presuda je rezultat sporazuma stranaka, budući da je ista priznala krivnju za svoje optužbe; a prije potpisivanja sporazuma uplatila je 200 000 eura na ime djelomične naknade štete, pri čemu nije isključeno pravo vjerovnika da potražuje naknadu ostale štete prema principu solidarne odgovornosti.
Kazneni postupak protiv ostala tri okrivljenika – bivšeg ravnatelja SAFU-a i dva vlasnika okrivljenih trgovačkih društava, kao i protiv ta dva društva – još je u tijeku.
EPPO je neovisan ured javnog tužitelja Europske unije. Odgovoran je za istragu, kazneni progon i podizanje optužnice za kaznena djela protiv financijskih interesa Unije.