Bernardić to the State Auditor: You are diverting attention from corruption and crime

Although parliamentary representatives praised the work of the State Audit Office in Tuesday’s discussion on several reports from 2013 to 2015, accountability was also sought from those named in the findings, and the leader of the SDP, Davor Bernardić, even told the main state auditor that “you cannot paint the people with some recommendations” because that diverts attention from the problems of corruption and crime, but from the HDZ they reminded him that the audit reports relate precisely to the period when his party was in power.

– You have stated that public procurement is partially effective in some trading companies… In four trading companies like Hrvatske ceste, the public institution HRT that we pointed out, the public procurement system was not effective and significant improvements are needed… The people cannot be painted and dust thrown in their eyes with some recommendations that you have written here, which may be good, but divert attention from the real problem – what kind of corruption and crime is happening in the background, Bernardić told the main state auditor Ivan Klešić.

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Why, he asked, is the truth about Agrokor being hidden. “Why was the supervisory board of the television dismissed so that the television could write news that suits the ruling party? Why is the public being poisoned with false and irrelevant information to conceal the real truth,” listed the SDP leader.

This prompted HDZ members to remind him that during the reporting period, the SDP government was in power.

– Some colleagues discuss as if someone else was in power at that time, said HDZ’s Ivan Šuker, and his party colleague Tomislav Klarić agreed with him.

– The leader of the opposition party attacked, not taking into account that he is attacking those reports when his party was in power, Klarić stated.

Anka Mrak Taritaš (Glas) believes that the audit should be discussed regardless of the period it refers to. “Whether it relates to the time when we were in power or in opposition… that good experiences continue and that what was bad does not continue. We need to read the recommendations because only in this way can we make progress,” she stated.

The thoroughness and comprehensiveness of the reports were praised by ‘Bridge’ member Miro Bulj, but he also called for accountability. “You always repeat the same story about public procurement, what is really the case, however, the question is always: what about the responsibility of those who carry out that procurement and direct that to the State Attorney’s Office and other institutions. Do you have data on how many of those illegalities or criminal acts around public procurement have been resolved by judicial bodies, i.e., has the State Attorney’s Office taken action,” Bulj asked.

The main state auditor Klešić explained that in case of suspicion of a criminal offense, the state audit informs the state attorney’s office. “Colleagues have their methodologies and they decide what to do next with those cases,” he said.

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Ivan Pernar (Živi Zid) criticized that the state audit cannot even access the Croatian National Bank or Agrokor.

– It is a shame that the state audit cannot access the HNB, that it does not deal with the operations of the Agrokor group to which billions were given, loans from HBOR, HPB. This means the state gives billions but does not supervise its operations. The money is wasted and the wolf ate the donkey. This is the continuity of politics here, Pernar stated.

The Parliament discussed the audit reports on the effectiveness of public procurement in trading companies, the use of official vehicles, the management of mineral resources, the effectiveness of the work of supervisory boards of trading companies owned by units of local and regional self-government, and the impact of the Jaspers program initiative on submitted project proposals of the Republic of Croatia for co-financing from European Union funds.

During 2016, the State Audit Office conducted an audit of the effectiveness of the public procurement system in 20 entities, of which 17 were owned by the Republic of Croatia and 3 were owned by units of local self-government. The period covered was from 2013 to 2015.

– The state audit assessed that in 4 companies the public procurement system was effective. In 12 it was effective, with certain improvements needed, and in 3 companies and one public institution it was not effective, and significant improvements are needed, Klešić reported.

Official vehicles of budget users, nearly nine and a half thousand of them, cost taxpayers 366 million kuna in 2014, this amount only includes expenses for fuel, registration, insurance, rental fees, but not the costs of vehicle procurement.

The audit warns that the method and conditions for renewing the vehicle fleet have not been prescribed, that the framework number of necessary vehicles has not been determined, nor the justification for procurement for each. Public procurement procedures and needs assessment take too long, before purchasing cars it is not examined whether the most commonly used model of procurement through operational leasing is also the most cost-effective.

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Due to all of this, they concluded that procurement and the correctness of use are only partially effective.

The audit covered operations in bodies responsible for managing mineral resources, 20 offices of state administration in counties and in the city of Zagreb, the Ministry of Finance, the Customs Administration, the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Agriculture. “It was assessed that the management of mineral resources in nine state administration offices in counties was effective, with certain improvements needed, while in all other bodies it was partially effective,” concluded Klešić.