Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the Croatian Privatisation Fund (HFP) Steering Board, Petar Cobankovic, said on Friday he believed that a solution would be found to the situation in the Suncani Hvar hotel company, stressing that the case was not harming foreign investments in Croatia.
"I believe there is a solution to every situation, and if someone believes they have been harmed in any way, they should file a lawsuit. There is nothing disputable about someone, who believes that they have been denied certain rights, to go to court," Cobankovic told reporters after a government session.
Jean-Francois Ott, chief executive of the Luxembourg-based Orco Property Group, which is the majority owner of the Croatian hotel company Suncani Hvar, said in an interview with EuroBusinessMedia (EBM) earlier in the day that he had sent a letter to Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor giving the government three months to negotiate a solution to the current situation in Suncani Hvar or he would refer the case to an international court.
The government confirmed receipt of the letter, inviting Ott to a meeting to be held early next week.
Cobankovic said the meeting would probably be held on Monday.
In his interview with EBM, Ott said he felt discriminated against as a foreign investor in Croatia.
Answering questions from the press today, Cobankovic said the Suncani Hvar case would not harm the government's efforts to attract foreign investments.
"We are not doing anyone any harm. Everyone is welcome in Croatia, but they also must respect Croatian laws and the Croatian state," Cobankovic said, adding that the basic interest of the government and the privatisation fund was protecting the interests of the Republic of Croatia.
Ott was detained in Zagreb on Tuesday for questioning by police.
On the same day, the police in the southern coastal city of Split pressed charges against six people on suspicion of embezzling HRK 16 million from Suncani Hvar, saying that they had breached business regulations from 2005 to 2008 and incurred unnecessary costs in order to acquire unlawful gain for companies within Orco Property Group.
Orco Group is the biggest shareholder in Suncani Hvar with a 55.5 per cent stake, while the Croatian Privatisation Fund has a 31.7 per cent stake. Suncani Hvar employs 356 people and faces accumulated losses of some HRK 400 million.
