Zdravko Pevec: Pevex can no longer be called Pevex according to the court ruling, Pevex reacted

Zdravko Pevec, the former owner of the chain of stores now called Pevex, addressed the media with a statement in which he says that the Administrative Court has ruled in his favor and that Pevex can no longer be called Pevex according to the court ruling. Pevex reacted to his statement, and we are publishing their statement in full.

– In order to provide truthful information to the public, and in relation to the sensationalist, misleading, and irrational statements of Zdravko Pevec, we emphasize that the company PEVEX d.d. uses the name PEVEX without any restrictions. The company is registered under the name PEVEX d.d. in the court register and accordingly operates and participates in legal transactions. Likewise, the company PEVEX d.d. is the authorized holder of a total of 16 trademarks, of which three are Pevec and two are Pevex, and is registered as such in the trademark register maintained by the State Intellectual Property Office, which can be verified through the publicly available service e-Registri of industrial property.

On this occasion, we also draw attention to the fact that Zdravko Pevec, as he has done countless times before, distorts the facts; the attachment to the statement he sent to the media does not include the decision on the lawsuit in the administrative dispute to which he refers.

We emphasize that Zdravko Pevec currently owes the company PEVEX d.d. over 700,000.00 euros according to final court rulings. Therefore, we are even more surprised by the media that, by publishing false statements from Zdravko Pevec, damage the image and reputation of the company PEVEX d.d., which, in protecting its reputation, will be forced to defend the interests of the company by all available legal means. By consciously manipulating the media, as he has no financial assets and therefore no responsibility, Zdravko Pevec uses the media as a lever to achieve his interests, causing great harm to the company PEVEX d.d. For this reason, PEVEX will be forced to seek financial compensation from those media that publish Zdravko Pevec’s lies.

We also remind that there is currently one enforcement proceeding, two civil proceedings, and nine administrative disputes ongoing between the company PEVEX d.d. and Zdravko Pevec.

Regarding the PEVEX trademarks protected and registered by the company PEVEX d.d., Zdravko Pevec has been rejected in three proceedings, while his request has been accepted in two before the State Intellectual Property Office, and the company PEVEX d.d. has initiated administrative disputes. No proceedings have been conclusively resolved. Since then, all proceedings are being conducted by the courts, and only in one proceeding has the court made a decision, specifically in July of this year for the trademark PEVEX TAKO LAKO, ruling in favor of the company PEVEX d.d. Additionally, administrative proceedings are ongoing for the PEVEC trademarks protected and registered by the company PEVEX d.d. The parties in the administrative dispute are bound by the final court ruling, noting that even after the administrative court makes a decision, each party has the right to appeal to the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia.

The company PEVEX d.d. will continue to use all PEVEC and PEVEX trademarks it has protected and which are registered in the trademark register.

In addition to the aforementioned proceedings, there is also an enforcement proceeding initiated by the company PEVEX d.d. against Zdravko Pevec as the debtor for an unpaid debt of over 500,000.00 euros, which arises from a final criminal judgment in which Višnja and Zdravko Pevec, due to the commission of the criminal offense of abuse of trust in economic business and tax evasion, caused damage to the company PEVEX d.d. in the specified amount. We emphasize that the enforcement decision has become final, and the court continues with the prescribed actions.

Additionally, there is one civil proceeding ongoing against Zdravko and Višnja Pevec for the payment of default interest on the unpaid amount of debt from the previously mentioned final criminal judgment.

Besides these debts, Zdravko Pevec also owes the company PEVEX d.d. based on the final judgment of the Commercial Court in Zagreb the amount of 99,543.00 euros for litigation costs in a copyright dispute that he has completely lost, as well as an additional 48,444.00 euros for litigation costs in a proceeding in which Zdravko, Višnja, Danijel, and Davorin Pevec sued PEVEX d.d. for over 2.5 million euros, for which a final decision was made by the appellate court rejecting their claims and establishing the nullity of the donation agreement that the four of them entered into to conceal assets.

In addition to these 11 proceedings, based on the indictment, a criminal proceeding is ongoing against the accused Zdravko Pevec for preventing evidence and for falsifying a document, specifically for falsifying a contract in which Zdravko Pevec is a signatory for both contracting parties, which does not exist in any records nor has anyone ever applied it; in fact, no one has ever seen it, but it appears like a phoenix for the first time 15 years after its “creation,” and Zdravko Pevec attaches its copy in 2018 in proceedings before the State Intellectual Property Office.

We look forward to everyone’s business success, including that of Mr. Zdravko Pevec, in the hope that he will be able to fulfill his obligations to the company PEVEX d.d., which today exceed the amount of 700,000 euros – they conclude in the statement.