"Zdenko Bucan ceased to be the director of Pfizer's branch in Croatia after the termination of the employment contract by consent, which was done in order to make it possible for him to take over a new diplomatic service," reads the statement, signed by the lawyer Gordana Grubesa.
"Thus, it is impossible, and also incorrect to say, that Zdenko Bucan has received the notice of termination of his employment as the director of the Zagreb-based Pfizer office on suspicion of his involvement in corruption, which the media have frequently stressed," the lawyer said, among other things, adding that the employment contract was terminated by consent before any mention of the scandal was made.
The statement was sent as response to a news item issued by Hina earlier in the day when the agency reported that Croatian Chief Public Prosecutor had ordered a preliminary investigation following media reports that the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer was investigating the business operations of its Zagreb branch due to suspicions that it has paid certain Croatian doctors large sums of money in order to boost the sale of Pfizer products.
According to that news item, the director of Pfizer's Zagreb branch, Bucan was fired on suspicion of corruption. The other media have over recent days also written about the scandal in Pfizer's Zagreb branch.
Chief Public Prosecutor Mladen Bajic told Hina earlier on Friday that his office "has compiled a file based on media reports on the case and we are verifying those allegations. We will also ask Pfizer to send us the results of their internal investigation, and after that, if necessary, we will notify the police."