Croatian Environment and Construction Minister Marina Matulovic Dropulic has said that current Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, who used to be Deputy Prime Minister in charge of social activities, had never been present at any meeting focusing on modifying the Croatian government's basic agreement with Hungary's MOL on INA and that Kosor had never been mentioned at those meetings in any context.
"All activities about the changes of the (main) agreement and the elaboration of an agreement on gas business were conducted by the economy ministry with Damir Polancec at its helm," Matulovic-Dropulic told reporters on Wednesday, responding to former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's testimony on Tuesday before a parliamentary commission of inquiry into INA's privatisation.
Sanader said that Kosor was involved in preparing the final touches to the agreement.
Minister Matulovic-Dropulic said it was true that all government members had been informed about all the main elements of the agreement changes, such as the reason for its amendments, what would be amended and how. On the basis of such information, they could make decisions, she said.
According to her, every government, including the current and previous ones, works as a team and everybody is responsible for their share of the job.
Matulovic-Dropulic said that having participated in the final negotiations with MOL on the purchase of the underground gas storage in Okoli, she had attended several meetings in the economy ministry at the end of 2008 and at the beginning of 2009.
She said all those meetings had been convened by the then Deputy Prime Minister Damir Polancec.
In attendance were also Finance Minister Ivan Suker, the head of the government's legislation office, Zdenka Pogarcic, economy ministry official Branimir Horacek, Plinacro's former CEO Branko Radosevic, lawyer Zoran Markovic and MOL executive Zalan Bacs, she said.
Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said today that Sanader's explanation that he stepped down as he did not want to trade with Croatia's territory in the accession negotiations with the EU was "a lie and a pathetic statement" in which nobody believed.
"This is a pathetic statement of a man who ran away and is now presenting himself as a guardian of national interests," Jandrokovic said after meeting his Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger in Zagreb.
This is a lie aimed at hiding the real reasons of Ivo Sanader's resignation, Jandrokovic said.
