ZAGREB, Feb 24 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament's House of Representatives on Thursday discussed a State Audit Office report for 1998. Auditing 861 bodies of state and local government and state-owned companies, the Office checked the
spending of 81.7 billion kuna (DM20.4 billion) of public funds, which represents more than half of Croatia's Gross National Product (GNP), chief state auditor Sima Krasic said in her introduction. Despite there being considerably fewer irregularities than in the past, many were being repeated, Krasic said, pointing to unauthorised spending and excessive spending, the absence of an internal spending control, uncontrolled borrowing on the part of local government and self government units, and especially the avoidance of public bids for the purchase of goods and services. Darinka Orel of the Croatian Social Liberal Party on behalf of the Committee on Labour, Social Policy, and
ZAGREB, Feb 24 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament's House of
Representatives on Thursday discussed a State Audit Office report
for 1998.
Auditing 861 bodies of state and local government and state-owned
companies, the Office checked the spending of 81.7 billion kuna
(DM20.4 billion) of public funds, which represents more than half
of Croatia's Gross National Product (GNP), chief state auditor Sima
Krasic said in her introduction.
Despite there being considerably fewer irregularities than in the
past, many were being repeated, Krasic said, pointing to
unauthorised spending and excessive spending, the absence of an
internal spending control, uncontrolled borrowing on the part of
local government and self government units, and especially the
avoidance of public bids for the purchase of goods and services.
Darinka Orel of the Croatian Social Liberal Party on behalf of the
Committee on Labour, Social Policy, and Health commented on bad
transactions in the Croatian Pension Insurance Bureau and bad
management of its shares' portfolio.
Orel asserted the portfolio's nominal value had been decreased from
4.1 billion kuna (a little over DM1 billion) to a mere 2.9 billion
kuna (DM725 million). Auditing also established numerous adverse
sales and changes of shares, she added.
The Committee on Finances and the State Budget suggested that
police and judicial bodies by May 1 report to parliament on measures
taken in connection with irregularities pointed to in the 1998
audit report.
Damir Kajin of the Istrian Democratic Assembly pointed to the fact
that in 1998 the state spent 22.6 percent, and the City of Zagreb
28.4 percent more than the year before. "It was disastrous to raise
the budget above the growth of the GNP," he asserted.
Commenting on the financing of the Croat Defence Council (HVO),
Kajin said Croatia "between 1992 and 1999 spent about seven billion
kuna (DM1.75 billion) on the HVO, which with interest is almost ten
billion kuna (DM2.5 billion)." The sum would suffice for the
building of a 300km-long highway or 50,000 new jobs, he said.
Kajin included in unjustified spending unplanned costs for the
financing of Service for the Protection of the Constitutional Order
intelligence workers, in the amount of seven million kuna (DM1.75
million).
Parliament president Zlatko Tomcic warned Kajin about disclosing
some data labelled as secret of state. Kajin said the data he put
forward were stated in the 1998 audit report as "so called special
costs", to which state auditor Krasic responded that the report did
not contain such data.
(hina) ha jn