OWNERS OF 'VECERNJI LIST' DISCLOSE THEIR NAMES

ZAGREB, April 16 (Hina) - Sunday's issue of the Vecernji List daily published the lead story that owners of this major Croatian daily are "Auto-Kuca Zubak" (company for sales of cars) and a German company called "Montmontaza GmbH". The owner of "Auto-Kuca Zubak", Pavo Zubak, and a representative of "Montmontaza" Ivica Nuic said in their interview Vecernji List that after they concealed this fact for two years they decided to make it public as "the media and political campaign against the daily has assumed such proportions that begins to threaten the stability of the newspaper." Zubak and Nuic claimed that the matter was being mystified through the work of the Sabor's commission of inquiry, and thus all of that harmed Vecernji List. The Croatian National Parliament has recently set up the commission to clarify murky circumstances in which the majority package of shares of this daily with the greatest circulation in Croatia had been sold during the Christmas and New Year holidays 1997/1998. The funds of pension and disability insurance sold 53.61 percent of shares of Vecernji List for approximately 19.5 million German marks to Caritas Fund Limited, registered on the Virgin Islands just a few days prior to the conclusion of the deal in 1997. The Caritas Fund director, Simon Rodgers, (also a member of Vecernji List's supervisory board) told the Croatian Television on April 7 that he had information about sources of money but he was not willing to talk about who were investors and where the money had come from. Rodgers added that he owed confidentiality to investors who insisted on it, but he told the television that all means invested in Caritas Fund Limited had come from a great series of investors and that all the money had come from organisations, firms or banks in countries known for having established procedures against money laundering. According to Nuic and Zubak, "Montmontaza GmbH" holds about two thirds of the shares package of Vecernji List in the portfolio of "Caritas Fund" and paid some 12 million German marks for it, while "Auto-Kuca Zubak", which holds one third of that portfolio with Vecernji List shares, gave the rest of money (some 7.5 million). Zubak and Nuic claimed that profit was their only motive to enter Vecernji List. Namely, their intention was to create surplus from the invested money and earn from the sale of the package of their shares to a strategic partner when conditions be met for such a move. "When a strategic partner appears who can grow the capital of Vecernji List, we shall probably leave Vecernji List. I hope it will happen very soon," Nuic said in the interview. The two also denied allegations that they had bought the daily by laundered money or that they came into possession of it thanks to their political ties and sponsors. Nuic said he was ready to testify about the matter before the parliamentary commission of inquiry. Asked why he was silent for two years about his share into the ownership of Vecernji List, businessman Zubak said he held that it would be detrimental to the basic activity of his company "Auto Kuca Zubak" as this firm occupied much space of Vecernji List for advertisement notices, and the daily has a regular special feature about cars. These two entrepreneurs also said that investors via the supervisory board or the daily's management had never meddled in editorial policy of Vecernji List, and claimed that the supervisory board had dealt with only supervision of business activities and development strategy. (hina) ms