An investigation (into the allegation) will show what is true, and I have no connections with any scandal or any possible criminal acts in my capacity as the Supervisory Board Chairman, Vukelic told reporters in Zagreb on Monday when he was asked about the matter.
"Relevant services should carry out their jobs, and let them establish who is guilty. If there are those who are guilty they should be punished," Vukelic said recalling that this week the investigation into the Brodosplit scandal should be completed.
Asked by reporters whether the company's managing board can be held responsible, Vukelic said that nobody can expect him to be a judge or an investigator who will rule whether the management is accountable or not.
Asked about the political background of the scandal Vukelic said that "the Opposition, primarily the Social Democratic Party (SDP), are using this situation to score cheap political points".
If there is any wrongdoing then the investigation will establish who exactly is responsible, and give their names, he said adding that neither the government nor the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) had anything with the scandal.
Asked about possible responsibility of the Brodosplit Supervisory Board, Vukelic said that it is the management that informs the Supervisory Board whether some financial contract is favourable or not and whether a ship can be built without financial losses and after that the Supervisory Board gives the greenlight to a business deal.
According to him, all pieces of information the Supervisory Bord has so far received from the Brodosplit management regarding the German Wessels shipbuilder have been positive, and financial reports have also been better (than what was offered by a Greek shipyard).
At a separate news conference in Zagreb also today, two senior officials of the ruling HDZ party, Ivan Jarnjak and Andrija Hebrang, countered the SDP criticism over the Brodosplit scandal with claims that this opposition party attacked and tried to discredit political rivals - the HDZ and the Ivo Sanader Cabinet - only to disguise a lack of its own political platform.
Hebrang said that the SDP was trying to transform the struggle against corruption into the fight against political opponents, "insulting the HDZ, its members and also the media".
Jarnjak and Hebrnak reiterated a thesis which occurred in a Croatian daily that the SDP lost possible kickbacks over the failed transactions regarding the Pliva company when the Icelandic Actavis company withdrew from the race with Barr Pharmaceuticals for the acquisition of the Zagreb-based Pliva company.
Hebrang said that it was the SDP-led coalition government that first sold eight percent of shares in Pliva in 2002 at what he said a considerably lower price which, he added, had multiple negative consequences, including the depriving the government of the package of control shares in that leading pharmaceutical firm.
He went on to say that the intention of the SDP was now to thwart the HDZ plans to service the debt to pensioners which was why the SDP was trying to prevent the sale of government-held shares in Pliva.
Asked about the alleged murky dealings in Brodosplit, Hebrang answered that the investigation is being intensified and that it will establish who is responsible.
The investigation has been launched into the management and the supervisory board of the Brodosplit shipyard, on orders from the Split County Prosecutor's Office after an anonymous report accused the company management and supervisory board of causing damage to the company amounting to several million dollars, local police officials reported earlier this month. According to some allegations murky dealings included money laundering. Interpol joined in the investigation.
In the meantime the case has taken on a political dimension when SDP officials started levelling accusations against PM Ivo Sanader, particularly after the replacement of the vice-chairman of Brodosplit's Supervisory Board, whom the media described as the main culprit in the case.
Asked about the allegations in a recent interview with Croatian Radio, PM Sanader said he had requested a prompt investigation as soon as the case was discovered. He added that possible criminal activity in Brodosplit should be investigated and the perpetrators punished. In a Croatian Television prime-time news programme last Friday, Economy Minister Vukelic vehemently dismissed allegations about his involvement in the case.