ZAGREB, May 8 (Hina) - Croatian Minister of Public Works, Reconstruction and Construction Radimir Cacic rebutted articles in the press that since he came into office his companies had increased their business.
ZAGREB, May 8 (Hina) - Croatian Minister of Public Works,
Reconstruction and Construction Radimir Cacic rebutted articles in
the press that since he came into office his companies had increased
their business. #L#
"These are blatant lies and half truths" Cacic said at a press
conference in his ministry on Thursday.
He refutes media reports that his companies have been awarded 20 per
cent of the contracts to build government-subsidised flats (the so-
called POS flats).
The minister reminded that after he came into office he froze his
ownership in the companies and that the contracts that his wife and
relatives won were gained through public tender.
He said that there was no conflict of interest in the matter and that
winning contracts were not ethically questionable. He noted that
the parliament had been discussing a law on prevention of the
conflict of interests for the past three years and that his party's
two MPs were certainly not hampering the passage of the law but
rather they who were benefiting from the law not being adopted.
Reflecting on the media campaign against him relating to an
advertising project for the construction of national highways, he
claimed that his ministry had financed with only 120,000 kuna (i.e.
ten percent of the entire amount) that campaign.
He explained that the programme also involved Croatian Motor Ways
and other road companies and that its initial cost was around
900,000 kuna and that following public attacks, he ordered that
this be raised to 1.2 million kuna.
He said that the advertisement for the motorway was important for
the entire presentation of the project because people were not well
informed of the project.
Speaking about the current situation in the construction of the
Zagreb-Split Motorway as well as the motorway towards Rijeka, the
Zagreb-Macelj Motorway, the Istrian Y and Zagreb-Gorican Motorway,
Cacic said that works were going according to plan even though there
was a huge deficiency in the labour force.
(1EUR = 7.55 kuna)
(hina) sp ms sb