Finance Minister to relieve assistant if commission finds conflict of interest

Finance Minister Slavko Linic said on Thursday that his assistant Branko Segon was not in conflict of interest but that if the Conflict of Interest Commission established otherwise, he would relieve him of duty.
 

"As far as I know, Segon acted in line with the law. What remains is the issue of the regularity of HBOR's (Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development) lending. I believe that everything was in line with the criteria and that HBOR's actions are in the interest of business people", Linic told reporters.

He said the conditions for lending to the tourism sector were very good and that the loan in question was granted in line with HBOR's criteria. He added that 77 such loans were approved last year and that not one application was rejected.

Linic was confident that the supervision of HBOR's operations was well-organised, including by international institutions when money from foreign investment banks was used.

He added, however, that state officials should not use funds given by state institutions. "This is also the prime minister's message, that those who choose politics can have companies but should move away from institutions."

Linic said he believed that information on the said loan was not leaked from HBOR, and would not comment on his conflict with Enterprise Minister Gordan Maras.

As for the Tax Administration's failure to respond to a complaint against Segon, Linic said it was unacceptable that it took four years to process it and that the Tax Administration had not responded to the police request.

Linic said he did not know why neither he nor the Tax Administration chief had not been informed about the Segon case and why it had not been solved yet. "Internal control will lead us to the truth."

(Hina)
 

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