Croatian Transport and Infrastructure Minister Bozidar Kalmeta has said that that he has already asked reports from internal auditors and the supervisory board of the Croatian Motorways (HAC) company following media speculations about wrongdoings in that public company.
Kalmeta told the national broadcaster's (HTV) prime time news on Saturday evening that in case relevant institutions proved the responsibility of anybody for any irregularities those responsible people would be dismissed.
The minister stressed that he would order dismissals only on the basis of unequivocal evidence and not because of speculations or the Opposition's wish to see dismissals.
In this context he accused the Opposition of showing a lack of willingness to struggle with corruption in its ranks.
Asked by the news anchorwoman whether his ministry was cooperating in the investigation with the state prosecutor and the European Union anti-fraud office, Kalmeta said that he was encouraging every form of checking and investigations.
Earlier on Saturday, while commenting on the possibility of dismissing the managing board of the state-owned Croatian Motorways company, Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said this was within the authority of the relevant government department, adding that her government would support all efforts to ensure proper operation of all public companies.
Last Wednesday, the European Commission's Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) said it was checking information about possible wrongdoings in the use of the European Union funds in the construction of motorways in Croatia, but the decision to launch an investigation has not yet been made.
I can confirm that OLAF is looking into the information about possible irregularities in the use of EU funds for financing motorways in Croatia. We are in the phase of checking and OLAF is assessing whether it is necessary to launch an investigation or not. We cannot at this moment give any assessment how much time the checking will take, OLAF deputy spokesman Joerg Wojahn told Hina in Brussels.
(Hina)