"I have information that Iveco trucks were purchased in a direct deal with a firm from Stupnik following a failed tender," Mesic said during a stop on his campaign trail in Zapresic, just west of Zagreb.
Mesic, who is seeking a second five-year term in office, said that after the failed tender the Defence Ministry should have announced a new tender rather than go for a direct deal. He added that such deals should be "completely transparent and the public should know what they are about."
In a telephone statement with Hina later in the day, Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic dismissed Mesic's allegations as "tragicomic", saying that "there is no room for doubting the legality of the direct deal in the purchase of 35 million kuna worth trucks for the Croatian Army."
Roncevic said that the Defence Ministry had invited bids for the purchase of trucks, but that all the bids exceeded 35 million kuna, the amount allocated for this purpose in the 2004 state budget.
"We annulled the tender in accordance with the Public Procurement Act and established a commission which entered into negotiations with the best bidder. In this case it was Eurokamion from Zagreb," Roncevic said, adding that otherwise the budgetary funds earmarked for the purchase of trucks would have remained unspent.