Sanader recalled that the money from the sale was intended for servicing the state's debt to pensioners and that the second instalment would be paid before Christmas.
Commenting on claims about the government's inconsistency in connection with the sale of its 18 per cent interest in Pliva, the PM said the government was behaving as a good master and that there had been no inconsistency at all.
He said the share price had been increasing from the start of the sale and that it was normal for the government to want to achieve the highest price possible. He recalled that the initial tender offer by Iceland's Actavis had been much lower than at present and that this was why the government did not want to sell at that time.
Sanader said a new privatisation law could be passed by the end of the year and that final consultations were currently being held with trade unions and employers. "We want employee stock ownership, but not on the model of self-managing socialism. We want the workers who created a company to be able to buy shares at favourable conditions."
Commenting on a survey which showed that 92 per cent of the public perceived Croatia as a corrupted country, Sanader said corruption existed also in the most developed countries.
He commended those members of the public who were brave and reported cases of corruption and said that before the summer he entrusted the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime to research the level of corruption. The research will either confirm or refute the (GfK) survey on the corruption perception, he said.
He once again underlined the commitment to fight crime and money laundering.