A member of Parliament and vice-president of the opposition Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, Petar Cobankovic, said on Thursday he was not withdrawing from politics, adding that he would complete his present term in office, but would not stand for any position in the party in forthcoming elections.
"I will not burden the party with my own problems and therefore I will not stand for any position in the party," Cobankovic told a press conference in the Parliament building, prompted by media speculations that he was withdrawing from politics following allegations of fraud.
Cobankovic, who served as Agriculture Minister in the previous government, declined to talk about the Planinska case, in which he is suspected of irregularities relating to a building which the previous government rented from Hypo Bank for the Ministry of Agriculture. The bank purchased the building, located in Planinska Street in Zagreb, from Stjepan Fiolic, a businessman and former HDZ member of Parliament, at a considerably higher price than the market rate at the time, whereby the state budget was defrauded of 26.4 million kuna (3.5 million euros).
