Former President Đuro Đaković Receives Payment Through Donation to HDZ

The former CEO of Đuro Đaković, Velimir Kučinar, testified at the trial of former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and HDZ in the Fimi media case that he and his associates were asked for a donation of one million kuna for HDZ in order for ‘Đuro Đaković’ to collect its claims against HEP.

Kučinar stated that his consortium had a claim of as much as 60 million kuna from HEP, for which he worked on an energy facility. However, at the end of 2008, one of his associates, Ljubo Bušić, said he learned from HEP that it was not enough to just align prices but that a donation to HDZ was necessary, Kučinar recalled.

Bušić was subsequently sentenced to 10 months in prison in another case for bribing HEP officials with 600 thousand kuna, part of which, according to the defense, was also supposed to go to HDZ’s black fund.

– We were in serious trouble because daily losses due to delays were 30 thousand euros, and the consortium members agreed to make the donation – said Kučinar. He added that he collected 520 thousand kuna, which he handed over in May 2009 to Petar Čubelić, one of the HEP officials convicted for receiving Bušić’s bribe.

Of the 520 thousand kuna, Kučinar contributed 245 thousand, Mato Palić 225 thousand, and Josip Nakić 50 thousand kuna. Subsequently, Bušić also contributed 180 thousand kuna, Kučinar said. He also stated that he did not request a receipt for the money paid to Čubelić, but they did not receive a thank-you note as Bušić claimed.

Although Bušić later asked him to pay the remaining amount to reach the requested one million kuna, the remainder was never paid because ‘the circumstances changed’.

– The Prime Minister resigned, Ivan Mravak (the director of HEP) was dismissed, and we believed we no longer had the obligation we had agreed to – said Kučinar.

Former Prime Minister Sanader objected to this part of his testimony from the defendant’s bench, emphasizing that it is not true that the donation was not paid due to changing circumstances, but because they were being monitored by USKOK.

Regarding donations to the ruling party, Sanader’s secretary Helga Draženović also testified at the trial of the largest corruption case in Croatia. She is also the sister of Slaven Tintor, whom former HDZ Secretary Ivan Jarnjak mentioned in his testimony, emphasizing that Tintor told him he had given 500 thousand euros twice to former Sanader’s spokesperson Ratko Maček, who is also accused in this case.

The witness recounted that she directed her brother, who was inquiring about donations to HDZ before the parliamentary elections in 2007, to Maček as the campaign manager. However, she said she does not know how much money Tintor donated to the party or whether he received a receipt for it.

The owner of the company FLEX-O, Željko Ševerdija, recounted how he gave 100 thousand kuna to the former HDZ treasurer in his office at the Customs, for which he received a party thank-you note.

In response to a question from the accused Sanader, Ševerdija stated that the donation was not a quid pro quo for resolving ‘his problems with HEP’, since Barišić’s son-in-law Ante Despot worked in that public company.
Otherwise, Ševerdija testified in the investigation against Despot that he was forced to sponsor the volleyball club Mladost and donate to HDZ at Barišić’s urging. The trial continues in the afternoon.