PM says gov't behaves responsibly in connection with Agrokor

Following the first arrests in the Agrokor case, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday he would not comment on the ongoing process conducted by the police and the Chief State Prosecutor's Office, adding that for the last ten months, namely since it became clear that the situation in the debt-laden private conglomerate was not good, the government has behaved responsibly.

Plenkovic stressed it would be healthy for the country if the story was unravelled all the way, rejecting any responsibility of the Finance Minister Zdravko Maric.

He said the government wrote Lex Agrokor with the help of experts.

"I do not intend to comment on the details of any case conducted by the police and the Chief State Prosecutor's Office," said Plenkovic, who attended a meeting of representative of centre right parties from numerous European countries, gathered in the European People's Party (EPP).

Commenting on the parliamentary commission of inquiry for Agrokor, Plenkovic said it was in everyone's interest to see "the story unravel all the way" as that this was healthy and hygienic for the state.

Asked if the time had come for Finance Minister Zdravko Maric to step down, the prime minister said "no". Asked to say concretely who prepared the legislation paving the way for the government to address a situation in a systemically important company such as Agrokor when it is in financial distress, the prime minister said the government with the help of experts.

The prime minister reiterated that the government never considered not doing anything or nationalising Agrokor, as suggested by some political leaders.

This would mean dumping the obligations of a private company onto the tax payers and that was out of the question, the PM said. It was also out of the question to give money to Agrokor because, while some things would have been fixed short-term, the situation would have been the same in medium-term, Plenkovic said.

The government has done everything on time and it has invested maximum efforts to protect the general interests of the country and the society. "This is the only thing that led us and that is still leading is. No populism, Let us not forget that everyone in the Opposition has been saying for six months in unison that we are protecting Agrokor, one person, one family, and now it turns out this was not the case," Plenkovic said.

I suggest we all once again take a look at who is coherent, consistent, who had the political courage to take steps, who prevented the economic and financial tsunami in Croatia. This government and this parliamentary majority did that, the PM said.

Speaking of the parliamentary committee of inquiry for Agrokor, Plenkovic said that under the law, the committee should cease to exist once the criminal proceedings were formally launched.

Text: Hina

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