The Podravka Assembly Would Not Grant Discharge to Four Former Leaders

The main assembly of Podravka has been proposed to carry over last year’s loss of 332.6 million kuna to the next period, a reduction in the number of members of the Supervisory Board from 11 to 9, and the appointment of several new members of that body. It has also been proposed that discharge not be granted to three former members of the Management Board – Zdravko Šestak, Josip Pavlović, and Saša Romac, nor to the former president of the Supervisory Board, Darko Marinc.

The main assembly of Podravka is scheduled for August 31, and the invitation for the assembly and the agenda were published today via the Zagreb Stock Exchange. Podravka ended last year with a loss of 332.6 million kuna, and it has been proposed that the incurred loss be carried over to the next period. It has also been proposed that the three former members of the Management Board who led Podravka until November 18 last year – Zdravko Šestak as the president of the Management Board, and members Josip Pavlović and Saša Romac, not be granted discharge, thereby not approving how they managed the company in 2009.

Discharge would also not be granted to the former president of the Supervisory Board, Darko Marinc, who led that body until September 14 last year. These four former leaders of Podravka, along with the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Damir Polančec and two entrepreneurs Milan Horvat and Srđan Mladinić, are suspected in the Spice affair of illegally attempting to take over majority ownership of the Koprivnica food company through various transactions involving Podravka’s funds.

The report of the Supervisory Board of Podravka on the oversight of the company’s operations last year states that “by reviewing the operations of Podravka d.d., the Supervisory Board determined that certain irregularities in operations were observed, which are the subject of investigative actions by state bodies, and consequently, financial risks to the detriment of operations that generated a loss in 2009, which the auditor noted and warned in his notes to the Annual Financial Statements of Podravka d.d.”

Aside from that, in the remaining part that does not relate to the observed irregularities, the Supervisory Board determined that Podravka operated in 2009 in accordance with laws, company acts, and decisions of the main assembly, as noted in the report of the Supervisory Board. In addition to the aforementioned four former members of the Management and Supervisory Boards, it is proposed that discharge be granted to all other members of these two bodies for 2009. The main assembly of the Koprivnica food company has also been proposed to amend the Statute, which would reduce the number of members of that body from 11 to 9.

It has also been proposed that Darko Tipurić and Branko Vuljak be revoked from the Supervisory Board of Podravka, and that new members, for a term of four years, be elected: Dubravko Štimac, Dinko Novoselec, Petar Vlaić, and Petar Miladin. Along with them, as agreed at yesterday’s meeting of the Supervisory Board, Ljubo Jurčić, Karmen Anotlić, Miljenko Javorović, Nikola Gregur, and Ksenija Horvat would continue to be in that body. (H)