Todorić: During the ‘Collapse of Agrokor’, State Officials Violated the Law

The blogging activity of Ivica Todorić shows no signs of slowing down. On Monday, a new post titled “How the Law Was Violated” appeared on his blog, stating that state officials and associated individuals violated several laws of the Republic of Croatia during the ‘collapse of Agrokor’ and calls on state institutions to investigate the actions of state officials and associated individuals within their authority.

Todorić believes that state officials and associated individuals have violated, among other things, the Law on Preventing Conflict of Interest, the Public Procurement Act, the Right to Access Information Act, and the Capital Market Act.

>>> First Public Statement by Ivica Todorić: This is My Truth

He called on the Commission for Preventing Conflict of Interest to determine whether the Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Martina Dalić, was in a conflict of interest when drafting and adopting Lex Agrokor and whether she violated the principle of impartiality in performing her public duty by placing her private interest and the private interest of individuals she is connected with above the public interest she was supposed to represent in performing her public duty.

Additionally, he urges the Commission to determine whether she used her public duty for the interests and profit of individuals she is connected with and whether she failed to request an opinion from the competent Commission, in accordance with the principles of public duties, regarding the engagement of external advisors, thereby failing to eliminate doubts about the existence of a conflict of interest.

Todorić believes that the Commission should also determine whether Minister Dalić acted contrary to Article 7 of the Law on Preventing Conflict of Interest, i.e., whether she used privileged information about the actions of state bodies and abused her position as an official by influencing the decisions of the legislative and executive authorities to favor her interests and those of associated individuals.

>>> Todorić Supported the Establishment of a Commission for Agrokor, Promised Evidence of Violations of the Constitution and Laws

Todorić also called on the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) to determine whether there was market abuse of financial instruments in trading shares of companies from the Agrokor system contrary to the Capital Market Act, or the use of privileged information that the Government had (that work was being done on the drafting of Lex Agrokor and other information) by state officials and external experts who participated in the drafting of Lex. In particular, to determine whether the company Interkapital, which is now engaged in Agrokor, participated or mediated in trading shares of Agrokor companies during the drafting of Lex Agrokor.

He also called on the Government to fulfill its legal obligation under the Right to Access Information Act and transparently present the information that Minister Dalić refused to provide, as this, he emphasizes, is in the public interest. He believes that the Government should provide information on who participated in the drafting of Lex Agrokor, on what legal basis external legal and financial experts were engaged, and whether a public procurement procedure was conducted in accordance with the Public Procurement Act and during what time period the drafting of Lex Agrokor took place.

>>> Todorić Continues the Barrage, Calls on the Government to Answer the ‘Key Question’

“Minister Dalić, in her earlier response to the media, stated that neither domestic nor foreign consultants were engaged in the drafting of the law, but she confirmed that ‘over a longer period, in various phases of drafting the law on certain legal solutions, the opinions of several external legal and financial experts from different areas of expertise and specialization were sought.’ However, the Minister did not disclose to the public who these experts are,” Todorić states in his blog post.