"From what I have heard, the budget will be filled because this time bidders will have to offer UMTS services as well," the PM said during question time in parliament, voicing confidence that the new GSM operator would be chosen on 21 or 22 December.
Commenting on the Telecommunications Council's decision to annul the initial invitation for bids, Sanader said the Council was not obliged to accept an offer which it considered bad.
Asked whether he would request that the Council be dissolved, Sanader said that the Council was an autonomous body answering to the parliament, and that any interference in its work by the government would be unlawful.
Transport and Tourism Minister Bozidar Kalmeta dismissed claims that the government was inviting bids for the construction of highways without the necessary cost estimates and documents.
The roads are built in line with the law and relevant regulations, the minister said.
A state secretary at the Finance Ministry, Martina Dalic, dismissed speculation by Social Democrat Nenad Stazic that the government had granted the IMF access to the draft budget for next year before acquainting the parliament with it.
"The draft budget was not given to the IMF or any other international institution, because it has not been completed yet," she said.