Matanović requested one and a half million euros in bribes

USKOK’s informant in the “Maestro” case, Joško Kuzmanić, testified today at the Zagreb County Court that the former vice president of the Croatian Privatization Fund (HFP), the first defendant Josip Matanović, requested one and a half million euros to favor Russian investors in the construction of luxury apartments on the site of a former brick factory in Nin.

"Matanović clearly indicated that he was in a position to ensure a positive outcome and therefore requested money," said Kuzmanić. In contact with Matanović, whom he has known since university, Kuzmanić came in April last year as a lobbyist for Russian investors who planned to invest 30 million euros in the construction of apartments in Nin."When it became clear that the project could not move forward without money, I went to USKOK, took an envelope with money, and handed it to Matanović in the Anera café," said the witness. There is also a video recording of the handover of the first 50 thousand "USKOK" euros, and Kuzmanić was also wired in later meetings with people from the Fund.

After handing over the first "envelope," Kuzmanić, with the mediation of the accused lawyer Juraj Parazajder, drafted a deposit agreement with a notary. For this reason, he took another 150 thousand euros from USKOK and handed it to Parazajder as a guarantee that Matanović would receive 1.5 million euros upon completion of the job, or five percent of the total value of the investment in Nin. The witness stated that Matanović planned to open an account in Austria, but the final payment did not occur due to the arrest.

USKOK’s informant claims that Matanović also requested an additional 200 thousand euros for his colleague Robert Peša, also a vice president of HFP responsible for real estate. His role was to resolve the issue of traffic documentation with the mayor of Nin. "We were forced to agree to this because otherwise the project would be brought to a standstill," said the witness. The same "modus operandi" was applied in the planned purchase of hotels in Podgora and Živogošće, for which Russian investors planned to allocate up to 90 million euros.

Matanović’s commission in this deal was not precisely agreed upon, meaning there was a possibility that due to the size of the investment it would be somewhat lower than the previously agreed five percent. However, just for the information that a tender had been opened for the mentioned hotels, Matanović was paid another 50 thousand euros, said Kuzmanić. The trial continues in the afternoon when the first witness in the largest Croatian corruption affair will answer questions from the defense, prosecution, and the court council.

Former vice presidents of HFP Matanović and Peša, along with six other co-defendants, are charged with malversations regarding the repurposing of the Ciglana Nin land, the sale of shares in the hotels Živogošće and Podgora, the transformation of the Osijek Brewery, and the valuation of Badel’s land. Along with the two former vice presidents of the Fund, Igor Petlevski, Asja Piplović, and Mladen Jandriček, the dock also includes Darko Mrkonjić, a senior advisor in the HFP real estate sales service, Osijek entrepreneur and professor at the local Faculty of Economics Mane Medić, and lawyer Parazajder. In addition to receiving and giving bribes, USKOK charges them with aiding in receiving bribes, issuing and unlawfully obtaining business secrets, conspiracy to commit criminal offenses, abuse of position and authority, and aiding and inciting such abuses. (H)