Croatia does not understand what conflict of interest is, and the entire problem remains unresolved even after 63 changes to the law and the establishment of a dozen institutions for their implementation, according to the results of the research project ‘Conflict of Interest and Incompatibility of Duties in Eastern Europe’, conducted by the Partnership for Social Development in 2012 and presented to the public today.
Croatia’s fight against conflict of interest has focused on the acceptance and giving of bribes, which is more of an incidental than an institutional behavior, and the sanctions imposed by the Commission for the Decision on Conflict of Interest over the entire seven years of operation are only related to conflict of interest in five percent of cases, while the others concern asset declarations that have nothing to do with conflict of interest, said the author of the research, Momir Podumnjak.
In only four decisions or one percent of all decisions, the Commission imposed monetary fines, three of which do not exceed the amount of 10,000 kuna. Three decisions relate to the then mayor of Split, Željko Kerum, who was fined a total of about four thousand euros, which is more than a symbolic decision in relation to his assets of about 52 million euros, Podumnjak said, concluding that all this sends a message to offenders that corruption pays off.
